
V 














'^^ .^^ 











^ X ^ /\ 












^^%. 






X^^.. 






x>^% ^vw^ ^^"^ ^^^^ /% ^^^^' ^^^^^ ^^^ 










-^o^' 



o X^ ^^. 



V'*.omO 






^' 



,0^ -J- 












0^ .-^1^''-^^ ^^^ 



-^'% 



















c5 -n^ 






^' .0- 






^^^ 



9> "''c^. 



vV- 



,0o. 



N C 






^ -jgsnOj^ 



-^^ 



c5 -;^. 






^^^. 



\. 



6^ 






/ 



POMPEII 

ITS LIFE AND ART 



/£4 

/7V 



'j^^y^ 



POMPEII 



ITS LIFE AND ART 



BY 

AUGUST MAU 

M 
GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE IN ROME 



Cranslateti into lEnglisi) 
By FRANCIS W. KELSEY 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ORIGINAL 
DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED 



Nfto gorit 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1902 

All rights reserved 



theTTb«a«y^ 
congress, 

Two CQP*«i RtOWVCD 

NOV. ^ '^m'> 

DLAR8 i^XXo NO. 

corv B. 



Copyright, 1899, 1902, 
By FRANCIS W. KELSEY. 



First Edition, October, 1899. 

New Revised Edition, with additions, November. 1902. 



C, 



J. S. Gushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



For twenty-five years Professor Mau has devoted himself to 
the study of Pompeii, spending his summers among the ruins 
and his winters in Rome, working up the new material. He 
holds a unique place among the scholars who have given atten- 
tion to Pompeian antiquities, and his contributions to the litera- 
ture of the subject have been numerous in both German and 
Italian. The present volume, however, is not a translation of 
one previously issued, but a new work first published in English, 
the liberality of the publishers having made it possible to secure 
assistance for the preparation of certain restorations and other 
drawings which Professor Mau desired to have made as illustrat- 
ing his interpretation of the ruins. 

In one respect there is an essential difference between the 
remains of Pompeii and those of the large and famous cities 
of antiquity, as Rome or Athens, which have associated with 
them the familiar names of historical characters. Mars' Hill is 
clothed with human interest, if for no other reason, because of 
its relation to the work of the Apostle Paul; while the Roman 
Forum and the Palatine, barren as they seem to-day, teem with 
life as there rise before the mind's eye the scenes presented in 
the pages of classical writers. But the Campanian city played 
an unimportant part in contemporary history; the name of not 
a single great Pompeian is recorded. The ruins, deprived of 
the interest arising from historical associations, must be inter- 
preted with little help from literary sources, and repeopled with 
aggregate rather than individual life. 

' A few Pompeians, whose features have survived in herms or 
statues and whose names are known from the inscriptions, seem 



vi PREFACE 

near to us, — such are Caecilius Jucundus and the generous 
priestess Eumachia; but the characters most commonly asso- 
ciated with the city are those of fiction. Here, in a greater 
degree than in most places, the work of reconstruction involves 
the handling of countless bits of evidence, which, when viewed 
by themselves, often seem too minute to be of importance; the 
blending of these into a complete and faithful picture is a task 
of infinite painstaking, the difficulty of which will best be appre- 
ciated by one who has worked in this field. 

It was at first proposed to place at the end of the book a 
series of bibhographical notes on the different chapters, giving 
references to the more important treatises and articles dealing 
with the matters presented. But on fuller consideration it 
seemed unnecessary thus to add to the bulk of the volume ; 
those who are interested in the study of a particular building 
or aspect of Pompeian culture will naturally turn to the Pom- 
peiananmi antiquitaUtm Jiistoria, the reports in the Notizie degli 
Scavi, the reports and articles by Professor Mau in the Roman 
Mittheihmgen of the German Archaeological Institute, the 
Overbeck-Mau Pompcji, the Studies by Mau and by Nissen, 
the commemorative volume issued in 1879 under the title 
Ponipei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesiivio, the catalogues of 
the paintings by Helbig and Sogliano, together with Man's 
GescJiichte der decorafiven Wandmalerei in Poinpeji, H. von 
Rohden's Terracotten von Pompeji, and the older illustrated 
works, as well as the beautiful volume, Pompeji vor der Zer- 
stoerung, published in 1897 by Weichardt. 

The titles of more than five hundred books and pamphlets 
relating to Pompeii are given in Furchheim's Bibliografia di 
Pompei {^Qcond edition, Naples, 1891). To this list should be 
added an elaborate work on the temple of I sis, Aedis Isidis 
Pompeiana, which is soon to appear. The copperplates for 
the engravings were prepared at the expense of the old Acca- 
demia ercolanese, but only the first section of the work was 
published ; the plates, fortunately, have been preserved without 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 

The author and the translator unite in expressing their deep 
appreciation of the kind reception accorded to the first edition 
of this book. 

The second edition has been revised on the spot. Besides 
minor additions, it has been enlarged by a chapter on the recently 
discovered temple of Venus Pompeiana, and a Bibliographical 
Appendix, prepared in response to requests from various quar- 
ters. Among the new illustrations in the text are a restoration 
of the temple of Vespasian and a reproduction of the bronze 
youth found in 1900, besides the Alexandria patera and one of 
the skeleton cups from the Boscoreale treasure; in Plate VIII 
are presented two additional paintings from the house of the 
Vettii. 

The translator is alone responsible for Chapter LIX, which 
was prepared for the first edition at Professor Man's request, at 
a time when he was pressed with other work ; for the paragraphs 
in regard to the treasure of Boscoreale, and for one-half of the 
references in the Bibliographical Appendix. 

AUGUST MAU 

FRANCIS W. KELSEY 

Albergo del Sole, Pompei 
August 2, 1 90 1 



PREFACE vii 

injury, and the publication has at last been undertaken by 
Professor Sogliano. 

Professor Mau wishes to make grateful acknowledgment of 
obligation to Messrs. C. Bazzani, R. Koldewey, G. Randanini, 
and G. Tognetti for kind assistance in making ready for the 
engraver the drawings presenting restorations of buildings ; to 
the authorities of the German Archaeological Institute for 
freely granting the use of a number of drawings in its collec- 
tion ; and to the photographer, Giacomo Brogi of Florence, for 
placing his collection of photographs at the author's disposal 
and making special prints for the use of the engraver. In 
addition to the photographs obtained from Brogi, a small num- 
ber were furnished for the volume by the translator, and a few 
were derived from other sources. 

The restorations are not fanciful. They were made with 
the help of careful measurements and of computations based 
upon the existing remains ; occasionally also evidence derived 
from reliefs and wall paintings was utilized. Uncertain details 
are generally omitted. 

It is due to Professor Mau to say that in preparing his manu- 
script for English readers I have, with his permission, made 
some changes. The order of presentation has occasionally been 
altered. In several chapters the German manuscript has been 
abridged, while in others, containing points in regard to which 
English readers might desire a somewhat fuller statement, I 
have made slight additions. The preparation of the Enghsh 
form of the volume, undertaken for reasons of friendship, has 
been less a task than a pleasure. 



FRANCIS W. KELSEY. 



Ann Arbor, Michigan, 
October 25, 1899. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PLAN 



PLANS 



134 
160 



216 



PLATES 

PLATE 

L View of the Forum, looking toward Vesuvius. From a 

photograph ........ Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

IL Court of the Temple of Apollo. From a photograph . 88 
IIL The Greek Temple and the Forum Triangulare, seen 
from the South. Restoration (Weichardt, Poinpeji vor 
der Zerstdrung, Tafel II) . 
IV. The Barracks of the Gladiators. From a photograph . 
V. Stabian Baths : Men's Apodyterium, with the Anteroom 
LEADING FROM THE PALAESTRA. From a photograph 

VI. Interior of the Amphitheatre, looking Northwest. 

From a photograph ........ 

VII. Interior of a House (IX. v. 11), looking from the Middle 

OF THE Atrium into the Peristyle. From a photograph 260 
VIII. Two Wall Paintings in the House of the Vettii — 
Apollo after the Slaying of the Dragon, and 
Agamemnon in the Sanctuary of Artemis. From 

photographs ... 328 

IX. A Dining Room in the House of the Vettii. From a 

photograph .......... 338 

X. The Street of Tombs, looking toward the Herculaneum 

Gate. From a photograph ...... 420 

XI. Artemis. Copy of an Archaic Work. From a photograph. . 444 
XII. Specimen of Wall Decoration. Second or Architectural 
Style (Mau, Geschichte der decorativen Waiidmalerei in 

Pompeji, Tafel V) 462 

XIII. Specimen of Wall Decoration, in the Court of the 
Stabian Baths. Fourth or Intricate Style. From a draw- 
ing in the Naples Museum 470 



I. Outline Plan of Pompeii .... preceding Chap. V 
II. The Forum, with Adjoining Buildings . " " VII 



xni 



xiv ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLAN 

III. The Forum Triangulare, with Adjacent 

Buildings . . . . . . preceding Chap. XX 

IV. The Villa Rustica near Boscoreale . " " XLV 
V. The Street of Tombs " '' L 

VI. The Excavated Portion of Pompeii . . following the Index 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 

E 

Map of Ancient Campania ....... 

Vesuvius as seen from Naples. From a photograph 

View from Pompeii, looking south. From a photograph (a. m.) 

Venus Pompeiana. Wall painting. House of Castor and Pollux 

After Moiiumenti dell' Instituto, Vol. Ill, pi. vi. b 
An amphora from Boscoreale. Collection of Classical Antiquities 

University of Michigan. From a drawing .... 
The Judgment of Solomon. Wall painting. Naples Museum 

From a photograph ........ 

Cast of a man. Museum at Pompeii. From a photograph . 
An Excavation. Atrium of the house of the Silver Wedding 

From a photograph ........ 

Wall with limestone framework (Ins. VII. iii. 13). From a photo- 
graph (f. w. k.) 

Fa9ade of Sarno limestone, house of the Surgeon. From a photo 

graph 

Quasi-reticulate facing, with brick corner, at thf itra^ -^e of the 

Small Theatre. From a photograph . . . 

Reticulate facing, with corners of brick-=^ ine (I. iii. 29) 

From a photograph (f. w. k.) . . . . , 

North end of the Forum, with - .iple of Jupiter, restored 

From an original drawing 1 . ...... 



PAGE 

2 

3 

5 



15 

17 

22 

28 
37 
39 
42 

43 
49 
51 
53 



Remnant of the colonnade opidius, at the south end of the 
Forum. From a photc ..ph (a. m.) 

Part of the new colonnade, near the southwest corner of the Forum 
From a photograph (a. m.") 

Scene in the Forum — a dealer in utensils, and a shoemaker. Wall 
painting. Naples Museum. After Pittiire di Ercola?w, Vol. Ill, 
pl-42" 55 

17. Scene in the Forum — citizens reading a public notice. Wall 

painting. Naples Museum. After Pitture di Ercolano, Vol. Ill, 
pl-43 56 

18. Plan of the temple of Jupiter 63 

19. Ruins of the temple of Jupiter. From a photograph ... 64 

1 The original drawings are based upon sketches by Professor Mau. The drawings marked with 
an asterisk are in the collection of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome. 



ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

FIGURE PAGE 

20. Section of wall decoration in the cella of the temple of Jupiter. 

After Mazois, Les Ruiiies de Ponipa, Vol. Ill, pi. 36 (Over- 
beck-Mau, Pompeji, Fig. 46) ....... 65 

21. Bust of Zeus found at Otricoli. Vatican Museum. After Tafel 

130 of the Brunn-Bruckmann Denkmaeler ..... 68 

22. Bust of Jupiter found at Pompeii. Naples Museum. From a 

photograph .69 

23. Plan of the Basilica ........ 71 

24. View of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal. From a photo- 

graph 72> 

25. Exterior of the Basilica, restored. From an original drawing . 75 

26. Interior of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal, restored. From 

an original drawing ......... 76 

27. Front of the tribunal of the Basilica. Plan and elevation. From 

an original drawing . . . . . . . . -77 

28. Corner of mosaic floor, cella of the temple of Apollo. After Mazois, 

Vol. IV, pi. 23 (Overbeck-Mau. Fig. 50) 80 

29. Plan of the temple of Apollo . ....... 81 

30. View of the temple of Apollo, looking toward Vesuvius. From a 

photograph .......... 83 

31. Section ^^, the entablature of the temple of Apollo, showing the 

-"' ^-m and the restoration after the earthquake of 63. 
Aliv.. ^ Vol. IV, pi. 21 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 264) . . 84 

32. Temple 01 j.^^ ^^tored. From an original drawing . . 86 

33. Plan of the builch.^ , +..^ northwest corner of the Forum . . 91 

34. Table of Standard 1,. ^n-es. After Mazois, Vol. Ill, pi. 40 

(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 23;^. . . . . . . -93 

35. Plan of the Macellum ......... 94 

36. View of the Macellum. From a photograph ..... 95 
2,7. The Macellum, restored. From an original drawing ... 97 

38. Statue of Octavia, sister of Augustus, found in the chapel of the 

Macellum. Naples Museum. From a photograph ... 98 

39. Statue of Marcellus, son of Octavia, found in the chapel of the 

Macellum. Naples Museum. From a photograph . . .101 

40. Plan of the sanctuary of the City Lares ...... 102 

41. Sanctuary of the City Lares, looking toward the rear, restored. 

From an original drawing.* (Cf. R'dui. Mitth., 1896. p. 288) . 10^ 

42. North side of the sanctuary of the City Lares, restored. From an 

original drawing.* (Cf. Rom. Mitth., 1896, p. 289) . . . 104 

43. Plan of the temple of Vespasian . . . . . , .106 

44. Front of the altar in the court of the temple of Vespasian. From 

a photograph . . . . . . . . . .107 

45. View of the temple of Vespasian. From a photograph . . . 108 

46. The temple of Vespasian, restored. From an original drawing.* 

(Cf. Roui. Mitth., 1900, p. 133) ....... 109 



^^. " ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 
FIGURE . „ 1 . . . I lO 

,, Bu-rf ot=cMa-.ea; 0M.e CO.. .es;o..ed. K.o™ an ^_^ 

original drawing • • • • " , /^ „, ^ ^ tt7 

50. Fountain of Concordia Augusta. From a pl^otogvaph (f. w. K.) ■ n? 

51. Plan of the Comitium . ■ ^^^ 

c-7 Plan of the Municipal Buildings . • • ■ ' , / ., -i ,,^ 

;• View of the south end of the Forum. From a photograph (A. M.) 22 
M Plan of the ruins of the temple of Venus Pompeiana . ■ • '-5 
55: vfew of the ruins of the temple of Venus Pompetana. From a ^^^ 

photograph •''''' ^J ' 128 

56. Plan of the temple of Venus Pompeiana, restored • • • 

c7 Plan of the temple of Fortuna Augusta* • ■..*,,'. 

8' Temple of Fortuna Augusta, restored. From an ongmal drawmg 
: Temple of Fortuna Augusta-rear of the cella -th the statue^ 
the goddess, restored. From an ongmal drawmg.' (Cf. Kom.^ 

Mitth., 1896, p. 280) • • • • • ■ ■ ■ 

60. Portico at the entrance of the Forum Triangulare. From a photo- 



130 
131 



135 



61. Vifwtf the Forum Triangulare, looking toward Vesuvius. From ^^^ 

a photograph . • • • ;^ . ' ' " ' ' .„ 
62 Plan of the Doric temple in the Forum Triangulare . • -137 

63". The Doric temple, restored. From an original drawing . • I3» 

64. Plan of the Large Theatre . • • • • ' " ',. 

65. View ofthe Large Theatre. From a photograph . . • • US 

66. Plan of the Small Theatre . • • • • * ' ' " 
67 View of the Small Theatre. From a photograph . . • • 54 

68. Section of a seat in the Small Theatre. After Mazois, Vol. IV, 

pi. 29 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. loi) • • • • • ' ^5 

69. A terminal Atlas from the Small Theatre. After Mazois, Vol. IV- 



pl. 29 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 100) 
70 Ornament at the ends of the parapet in the Small Theatre - 
lion's foot. After Mazois, Vol. IV, pi. 29 (Overbeck-Mau. 

Fig. 99) * , ' ' 

71. Plan of the Theatre Colonnade, showing its relation to the two 



156 

156 

theatres . 

72 A gladiator's greave. Naples Museum. From a photograph . 102 

7,' A gladiator's helmet. Naples Museum. From a photograph . 103 
74. Remains of stocks found in the guard-room of the barracks. 

Naples Museum. From a photograph . • • • ' ^} 

7c. Plan of the Palaestra _ " 

76. View of the Palaestra, with the pedestal table, and steps. From a ^^^ 

photograph 



ILLUSrRA'lIONS xvii 



167 
170 
172 
173 



n 



179 



180 
183 

184 
190 



FIGURfi FACE 

-]-]. Doryphorus. Statue found in the Palaestra. Naples Museum. 
From a photograph ........ 

78. Plan of the temple of Isis ....... 

79. View of the temple of Isis. From a photograph . 

80. The temple of Isis, restored. From an original drawing 

81. Scene from the worship of Isis ^ the adoration of the holy water. 

Wall painting from Herculaneum. Naples Museum. Draw- 
ing, after a photograph ....... 

82. Temple of Isis. Part of the fa9ade of the Purgatorium. After 

Mazois, Vol. IV, pi. 11, and Piranesi, Antiquites cie Pompei, 
Vol. II, pi. 65 

83. Decoration of the east side of the Purgatorium — Perseus and An- 

dromeda, floating Cupids. Stucco rehefs. After Mazois, Vol, 
IV, pi. 10 

84. Plan of the temple of Zeus Milichius 

85. Capital of a pilaster of the temple, with the face of Zeus Milichius. 

After Mazois, Vol. IV, pi. 6 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 62) 

86. Plan of the Stabian Baths 

87. Stabian Baths — interior of Frigidarium. Drawing, with indebted- 

ness to Niccolini, Le Case ed i Monunienti di Pompei, Vol. I, 
Ter;/ie presso la porta stabia)ia,\>\. y . . . . .191 

88. Bath basin in the women's caldarium — longitudinal and tiansverse 

sections, showing arrangements for heating. Drawing, with 
indebtedness to von Duhn und Jacobi, Der griechische Teuipel 
in Pompeji. pi. IX . . . . . . . . -194 

89. Colonnade of the Stabian Baths — capital with section of entabla- 

ture. Drawing . . . . . . . . .198 

90. Southwest corner of the palaestra of the Stabian Baths, showing 

part of the colonnade and wall decorated with stucco reliefs. 
From a photograph . . . . . . . . -199 

91. Plan of the Baths near the Forum 202 

92. Baths near the Forum — Interior of men's tepidarium. From a 

photograph . . ........ 204 

93. Baths near the Forum — Longitudinal section of the men's calda- 

rium. Drawing, after Cell, Po?npeia7ia, edit, of 1837, Vol. II, 

pi. 33, facing p. 91 205 

94. Plan of the Central Baths ........ 209 

95. View of the Central Baths, looking from the Palaestra into the 

tepidarium. From a photograph (f. w. k.) .... 210 

96. The Amphitheatre, seen from the west side. From a photograph 213 

97. Preparations for the combat. Wall painting (no longer visible) 

in the Amphitheatre. After Mazois, Vol. IV, pi. 48 (Overbeck- 
Mau. Fig. 107) ......... 214 

98. Plan of the Amphitheatre . . . . . . . .215 



XVlll 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIGURE 

99- 



loo 

lOI 

102 

104 

105 

106 
107, 
108 



109 
I 10 

III 

I 12 

114 
116 



117. 



118. 



Transverse section of the Amphitheatre. After Mazois, Vol. IV, 

pi. 46 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 104) 

Plan of the gallery of the Amphitheatre .... 

Conflict between the Pompeians and the Nncerians. Wall paint 

ing. Naples Museum. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 3 
View of Abbondanza Street, looking east. From a photograph 
Fountain, water tower, and street shrine, corner of Stabian and 

Nola streets. From a photograph (f. w. k.) . 
Plan of the reservoir west of the Baths near the Forum 
Ancient altar in new wall — southeast corner of the Central Baths 

From a photograph (f. w. k.) 

Plan of a chapel of the Lares Compitales (VIII. iv. 24) 

Large street altar (VIII. ii. 25). From a photograph (f. w. k.) 

Plan of a section of the city wall, with a tower and with stairs 

leading to the top. After Mazois, Vol. I, pi. 12 (Overbeck-Mau, 

Fig. 7) 

View of the city wall, inside. From a photograph 

Tower of the city wall, restored. After Mazois, Vol. I, pi. 13 

(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 8) 

Plan of the Stabian Gate 

Plan of the Herculaneum Gate 

View of the Herculaneum Gate, looking down the Street of 

Tombs. From a photograph 

Early Pompeian house, restored. From an original drawing 

Plan of a Pompeian house 

Plan and section of the vestibule, threshold, and fauces of the 

house of Pansa. After IvanoiT, iMo?i. deW I?ist., Vol. VI, pi 

28, 3 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 136) 

A Tuscan atrium — plan of the roof. After Mazois, Vol. II, pi. ^ 

(Overbeck Mau, Fig. 139) 

A Tuscan atrium — section. After Mazois, Vol. II, pi. 3 (Over 

beck-Mau, Fig. 140) 

119. .--Corner of a compluvium with waterspouts and antefixes, recon 

structed. (Reconstruction, Ins. VII. iv. 16.) After Overbeck 
Mau, Fig. 143 

120. A Pompeian's strong box, area. Naples Museum. From photo 

graph 

121. Atrium of the house of Cornelius Rufus, looking through thetabli 

num and andron into the peristyle. From a photograph . 

122. End of a bedroom in the house of the Centaur, decorated in the 

first style. From an original drawing .... 
Plan ofa dining room with three couches .... 
Plan of a dining room with an anteroom containing an altar for 

libations (VIII. v.-vi. 16) 



123 
124 



264 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Situation of Pompeii i 

II. Before 79 8 

III. The City Overwhelmed 19 

IV. The Unearthing of the City 25 

V. A Bird's-eye View 31 

VI. Building Materials, Construction, and Architectural 

Periods 35 

PART I 

PUBLIC PLACES AND BUILDINGS 

VII. The Forum 45 

VIII. General View of the Buildings about the Forum. — 

The Temple of Jupiter 61 

IX. The Basilica 70 

X. The Temple of Apollo 80 

XI. The Buildings at the Northwest Corner of the 

Forum, and the Table of Standard Measures . 91 

XII. The Macelluxm 94 

XIII. The Sanctuary of the City Lares 102 

XIV. The Temple of Vespasian 106 

XV. The Building of Eumachia no 

XVI. The Comitium 119 

XVII. The Municipal Buildings , . I2i 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 



XXI. 

XXII. 
XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 



The Temple of Venus Pompeiana 
The Temple of P'ortuna Augusta 
General View of the Public Buildings near the 

Stabian Gate. — The Forum Triangulare and the 

Doric Temple 
The Large Theatre 
The Small Theatre 
The Theatre Colonnade used as Barracks for 

Gladiators .... 
The Palaestra 
The Temple of I sis 
The Temple of Zeus Milichius 
The Baths at Pompeii. — The Si 
The Baths near the Forum 
The Central Baths 
The Amphitheatre 

Streets, Water System, and Wayside Shrines 
The Defences of the City .... 



ABL\N Baths 



I'ACiE 
124 



133 
141 

153 

165 
168 
183 
186 

208 

212 
227 
237 



PART II 

THE HOUSES 

XXXIII. The Pompeian House 245 

I. Vestibule, Fauces, and Front Door . . . 248 

II. The Atrium ....... 250 

III. The Tablinum . 255 

IV. The Alae 258 

V. The Rooms about the Atrium. The Andron . 259 

VI. Garden, Peristyle, and Rooms about the Peristyle 260 

VII. Sleeping Rooms . . . . . . . 261 

VIII. Dining Rooms ....... 262 

IX. The Kitchen, the Bath, and the Storerooms . 266 



CONTENTS 



XI 



X. The Shrine of the Household Gods 
XI. Second Story Rooms . 
XII. The Shops . . . . . 
XIII. Walls, Floors, and Windows 
XXXIV. The House of the Surgeon 
XXXV. The House of Sallust 
XXXVI. The House of the Faun 
XXXVII. A House near the Porta Marina 
XXXVIII. The House of the Silver Wedding . 
XXXIX. The House of Epidius Rufus 
XL. The House of the Tragic Poet 
XLI. The House of the Vettii . 
XLII. Three Houses of Unusual Plan 

I. The House of Acceptus and Euhodia 
II. A House without a Compluvium . 
III. The House of the Emperor Joseph II 
XLII I. Other Noteworthy Houses 
XLIV. Roman Villas. — The Villa of Diomedes 
XLV. The Villa Rustica at Boscoreale . 
XLVI. Household Furniture . . ." . 



PAGE 
268 

276 
278 
280 
283 
288 
298 

321 
341 
341 

343 
344 
348 
355 
361 
367 



PART III 

TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS 

XLVII. The Trades at Pompeii. — The Bakers 
XLVIII. The Fullers and the Tanners . 
XLIX. Inns and Wineshops .... 



383 
393 

400 



PART IV 

THE TOMBS 

L. Pompeian Burial Places. — The Street of Tombs . 405 

LI. Burial Places near the Nola, Stabian, and Nocera 

(xAtes 429 



CONTENTS 
PART V 

POMPEIAN ART 

CHAPTER PAGE 

LI I. Architecture 437 

^ LIII. Sculpture 445 

LIV. Painting. — Wall Decoration 456 

LV. The Paintings 471 

PART VI 

THE INSCRIPTIONS OF POMPEII 

LVI. Importance of the Inscriptions. — Monumental In- 
scriptions AND Public Notices .... 485 

LVII. The Graffiti 491 

LVIII. Inscriptions relating to Business Affairs . . 499 



CONCLUSION 
LIX. The Significance of the Pompeian Culture 509 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX . . . . . . .512 

INDEX 551 

KEY TO THE PLAN OF POMPEII 559 



267 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE 

125. Hearth of the kitchen in the house of the Vettii. From a draw- 

ing 

126. Niche for the images of the household gods, in a corner of the 

kitchen in the house of Apollo. From a photograph (f. w. k.) 269 

127. Shrine in the house of the Vettii. From a photograph . .271 

128. Interior of a house (VII. xv. 8) with a second story dining room 

opening on the atrium, restored. From an original drawing . 274 

129. Longitudinal section of the house with a second story dining 

room (VII. XV. 8) restored. From an original drawing . . 275 

130. Plan of a Pompeian shop. After Mazois, Vol. II, pi. 8 (Over- 

beck-Mau, Fig. 182) , . . . 276 

131. A shop for the sale of edibles, restored. After Mazois, Vol. II, 

pi. 8 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 183) 277 

132. Plan of the house of the Surgeon 280 

133. A young woman painting a herm. Wall painting from the house 

of the Surgeon. Naples Museum. After Fitture di Ercolano^ 
Vol. V, pi. I 282 

134. Plan of the house of Sallust. After Mazois, Vol. II, pi. 35 (Over- 

beck-Mau, Fig. 165) 284 

135. Atrium of the house of Sallust, looking through the tablinum and 

colonnade at the rear into the garden, restored. From an origi- 
nal drawing 286 

136. Longitudinal section of the house of Sallust, restored. From an 

original drawing . . . ' 287 

137. Plan of the house of the Faun 288 

138. Part of the cornice over the large front door of the house of the 

Faun. From an original drawing 289 

139. Fa9ade of the house of the Faun, restored. From an original 

drawing . . . ' 290 

140. Border of mosaic wdth tragic masks, fruits, flowers, and garlands, 

at the inner end of the fauces, house of the Faun. Naples 
Museum. After Museo Borb., Vol. IV, pi. 14 (Overbeck-Mau, 
Fig- 315) 290 

141. Longitudinal section of the house of the Faun, showing the large 

atrium, the first peristyle, and a corner of the second peristyle, 
restored. From an original drawing 292 

142. Detail from the mosaic representing the battle between Alexander 

and Darius. From a photograph 294 

143. Transverse section of the house of the Faun, showing the two 

atriums with adjoining rooms, restored. From an original 
drawing 296 

144. Plan of a house near the Porta Marina (VI. Ins. Occid. 13) . 298 

145. Longitudinal section of the house near the Porta Marina, restored. 

From an original drawing 299 



i6i. 



XX ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE PAGE 

146. Plan of the house of the Silver Wedding 302 

147. Longitudinal section of the house of the Silver Wedding, restored 

From an original drawing . 

148. Transverse section of the house of the Silver W^edding, as it was 

before 63. From an original drawing 

149. Plan of the house of Epidius Rufus 

150. Fa9ade of the house of Epidius Rufus, restored 

nal drawing 

151. Transverse section of the house of Epidius Rufus. From an origi 

nal drawing 

152. Plan of the house of the Tragic Poet ..... 

153. View of the house of the Tragic Poet, looking from the middle of 

the atrium toward the rear. From a photograph 

154. Longitudinal section of the house of the Tragic Poet, restored 

From an original drawing .... 

155. The delivery of Briseis to the messenger of Agamemnon. Wall 

painting from the house of the Tragic Poet. Naples Museum 
After Mnseo Borb., Vol. II. pi. 58 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig 

311) 

156. The sacrifice of Iphigenia. Wall painting from the house of the 

Tragic Poet. Naples Museum. From a photograph 

157. Exterior of the house of the Vettii, restored. From an original 

drawing.* (Cf. Rom. Mitth., 1896, p. 4) . 

158. Plan of the house of the Vettii * . 

159. Longitudinal section of the house of the Vettii, restored. From 

an original drawing.* (Cf. Rom. Mitth., 1896, pi. i) 

160. Transverse section of the house of Vettii, restored. From an 

original drawing.* (Cf. Rd;ji. Mitth.., 1896, pi. 2) 



304 

307 
310 

311 

312 
313 

314 
316 



317 
319 

321 

322 



324 
324 



the peristyle in the house of the Vettii. From a drawing.* 

(Cf. Rom. Mitth., 1896, p. 31) 326 

162. View of the peristyle of the house of the Vettii, looking toward 

the south end. From a photograph . . . . -327 

163. System of wall division in the large room opening on the peristyle 

of the house of the Vettii ....... 329 

164. Psyches gathering flowers. Wall painting in the house of the 

Vettii. From a photograph ....... 330 

165. Cupids as makers and sellers of oil. Wall painting in the house 

of the Vettii. From a photograph ...... 332 

166. Press for olives. From a wall painting found at Herculaneum. 

Naples Museum. Drawing after Pitture di Ercolaiio.) Vol. I, 

Pl- 35 ■ Zll 

167. Cupids as goldsmiths. Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 

From a photograph ........ 334 



ILLUSTRATIONS xxi 



1 68. Cupids gathering and pressing grapes. Wall painting in the 
house of the Vettii. From a drawing.* (Cf. Rom. Mitth., 1896, 
P-8i) 336 

i6g. Cupids as wine dealers. Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 

From a photograph ......... 337 

170. Cupids celebrating the festival of Vesta. Wall painting in the 

house of the Vettii. From a drawing.* (Cf. Rofn. Mitth., 1896, 

p. 80) . . . . .... . . . 338 

171. The punishment of Ixion. Wall painting in the house of the 

Vettii. From a photograph ....... 340 

172. Flan of the house of Acceptus and Euhodia (VIIL v.-vi. 39) . 341 

173. Longitudinal section of the house of Acceptus and Euhodia, 

restored. From an original drawing ..... 342 

174. Plan of a house without a compluvium* (V. V. 2) . . . 343 

175. Transverse section of the house without a compluvium, restored. 

From an original drawing.* (Cf Rom. Mitth., 1895, p. 148) . 344 

176. Plan of the house of the Emperor Joseph II (VlII. ii. 39) . . 345 

177. Bake room of the house of the Emperor Joseph II, at the time of 

excavation. After Mazois, Vol. II, pi. 34 (Overbeck-Mau, 

Fig. 4) 346 

178. Capital of a pilaster at the entrance of the house of the Sculptured 

Capitals (VII. iv. 57). From a photograph .... 349 

179. Plan of the house of Pansa (VI. vi. i) . . . . . 350 

180. Section showing a part of the peristyle of the house of the Anchor 

(VI. X. 7), restored. From an original drawing . . -351 

181. Plan of the house of the Citharist (I. iv. 5) . . . . . 352 

182. Orestes and Pylades before Thoas. Wall painting from the house 

of the Citharist. Naples Museum. From a photograph . . 353 

183. Plan of the villa of Diomedes ....... 356 

184. Longitudinal section of the villa of Diomedes, restored. From 

an original drawing, in part based on Ivanoflf, Architektoiiische 
Stiidien, Vol. II, pi. 5, 6 358 

185. Hot-water tank and reservoir for supplying the bath in the Villa 

Rustica at Boscoreale. Museo de Prisco, Pompeii. From a 
drawing.* (Cf. Ro/n. Mitth.. 1894, p. 353) .... 362 

186. Olive crusher found in the Villa Rustica at Boscoreale. Museo de 

Prisco. From a photograph ....... 365 

187. Silver patera, with a representation of the city of Alexandria. 

Boscoreale treasure, Louvre. After H. de Villefosse, Le tresor 

de Boscoreale, pi. i 366 

188. Dining couch with bronze mountings, the wooden frame being 

restored. Naples Museum. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 228 . 367 

189. Round marble table. Naples Museum. After Museo Borb., Vol. 

IV, pi. 56 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 229) 368 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIGURE 



190. Carved table leg, found in the second peristyle of the house of the 

Faun. Naples Museum. After Mtiseo Borb., Vol. IX, pi. 43 
(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 229) 368 

191. Bronze stand with an ornamental rim around the top. Naples 

Museum. From a photograph ...... 369 

192. Lamps of the simplest form, with one nozzle. Naples Museum. 

After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 231 . . . . . . -370 

193. Lamps with two nozzles. Naples Museum. After Overbeck- 

Mau, Fig. 231 370 

194. Lamps with more than two nozzles. Naples Museum. After 

Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 231 . . . . . . . . 370 

195. Bronze lamps with ornamental covers attached to a chain. Naples 

Museum. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 231 . . . -371 

196. Bronze lamps with covers ornamented with figures. Naples Mu- 

seum. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 231 . . . . -371 

197. Three hanging lamps. Naples Museum. After Overbeck-Mau, 

Fig. 231 372 

198. A nursing-bottle, biberon. Naples Museum. After Overbeck- 

Mau, Fig. 231 372 

199. Lamp standard of bronze. Naples Museum. Aii^r Museo B orb., 

Vol. IV, pi. 57 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 234) .... 373 

200. Lamp holder for a hand lamp. Naples Museum. After Overbeck- 

Mau, Fig. 233 374 

201. Lamp holder for hanging lamps. Naples Museum. Aiier Mnseo 

Borb., Vol. II, pi. 13 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 233) . . . 374 

202. Lamp holder in the form of a tree tnmk. Naples Museum. After 

Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 233 374 

203. Lamp stand. Naples Museum. From a photograph . . . 374 

204. Bronze utensils. Naples Museum. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 241, 

and Miiseo Borb 375 

205. Mixing bowl, of bronze, in part inlaid with silver. Naples Mu- 

seum. After Museo Borb., Vol. II, pi. 32 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 
248) 376 

206. Water heater for the table, view and section. Naples Museum. 

After Museo Borb., Vol. Ill, pi. 63 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 240) . 376 

207. Water heater in the form of a brazier. Naples Museum. After 

Museo Borb., Vol. II. pi. 46 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 238) . . 377 

208. Water heater in the form of a brazier, representing a diminutive 

fortress. Naples Museum. After Museo Borb., Vol. II, pi. 46 
(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 238) ....... 377 

209. Appliances for the bath. After Museo Borb., Vol. VII, pi. 16 

(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 251 ) . . . . . . . . yj'j 

210. Combs. After Museo Borb., Vol. IX, pi. 15 (Overbtck-Mau, Fig. 

252) • 377 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



XXlll 



FIGURE 
211 



213. 
214. 
215, 

216 a- 

216 e. 
217. 

218. 

219. 
220. 
221. 

O T7 
223. 
224. 
225. 

226. 

227. 

228. 
229. 
230. 

231. 
232. 

233- 
234- 

235- 



After H. de Villefosse 
ii. 22). From a photo- 



Hairpins, with two small ivory toilet boxes. After Museo Borb , 
Vol. IX, pis. 14, 15 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig, 252) 

Glass box for cosmetics. After Museo Borb., Vol. IX, pi. 15 
(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 252) ...... 

Hand mirrors. After Museo Borb., Vol. IX, pi. 14 (Overbeck 
Mau, Fig. 252) 

Group of toilet articles. After J//^i-^(9 ^(^r^.. Vol. IX. pi. 15 (Over 
beck-Mau, Fig. 252) ........ 

Gold arm band. After Museo Borb.., \o\. VII, pi. 46 (Overbeck- 
Mau, Fig. 318)' . . . . . . 

-d. Silver cups. Naples ^luseum. After Museo Borb.. \o\. XI 
pi. 45 ; Vol. XIII, pi. 49 : Overbeck-Mau, pi. facing p. 624 
Detail of cup with centaurs . . . . . . 

Silver cup. Boscoreale treasure, Louvre, 
Le tresor de Boscoreale^ pi. 8 

Ruins of a bakery, with millstones (VII 

graph 

Plan of a bakery (VI. iii. 3) .... 

A Pompeian mill, without the framework 

Section of a mill, restored. From an original drawing 

A mill in operation. Relief in the \"aticui Museum. After Ber 
der Sachs. Gesellschaft, 1861. pi. xii. 2 . . . . 

Section of a bake oven (VI. iii. 3). After Mazois. Vol. II. pi. 18 
(Overbeck-Mau. Fig. 192) 

Kneading machine, restored (VI. xiv. 35). From an original 
drawing ........... 

Scene in a fullery — treading vats. Wall painting. Naples Mu- 
seum. After Museo Borb., Vol. \\\ pi. 49 (Overbeck-Mau. 

Fig- 195) • • 

Scene in a fullery — inspection of cloth, carding, bleaching frame 

Wall painting. Naples Museum. After Museo Borb., Vol. I\' 

pi. 49 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 194) ..... 
A fuller's press. Wall painting. Naples Museum. After Museo 

Borb., Vol. IV. pi. 50 (Overbeck-Mau. Fig. 196) 
Plan of a fullery (VI. xiv. 22) . . . , 
Plan of the vat room of the tannery (I. v. 2) 
Mosaic top of the table in the garden of the tannery. Naples 

Museum. From a photograph 
Plan of an inn (VII. xii. 35) .... 
Plan of the inn of Hermes (I. i. 8) . . . 
Plan of a wineshop (VI. x. i) . 
Scene in a wineshop. Wall painting (VI. x. i). After Museo 

Borb., Vol. IV, pl. A 

Delivery of wine. Wall painting (VI. x. i). After Museo Borb 

Vol. IV, pl. A 



xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIGURE 



236. Sepulchral benches of Veius and Mamia ; tombs of Porcius and 

the Istacidii. From a photograph (a. m.) 

237. The tomb of the Istacidii, restored. From an original draw 

ing 

238. View of the Street of Tombs. From a photograph 

239. Glass vase, with vintage scene, found in the tomb of the Blue 

Glass Vase. Naples Museum. From a photograph 

240. Bust stone of Tyche, slave of Julia Augusta. After Mazois. Vol 

I, p. 31 (Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 223), with the correction in the 
spelling of the name tyche 

241. Relief, symbolic of grief for the dead. After Mazois, Vol. I, pi. 29 

(Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 221) 

242. Front of the tomb of Calventius Quietus, with bisellium. From a 

photograph ......... 

243. End of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche, with relief representing a 

ship entering port. From a photograph .... 

244. Cinerary urn in a lead case. After Mazois, Vol. I. pi. 22 (Over- 

beck-Mau, Fig. 213) 

245. Sepulchral enclosure, with triclinium funebre. After Mazois, 

Vol. I, pi. 20 (Overbeck-Mau, F'ig. 210) 

246. Plan of the tombs east of the Amphitheatre * . . . 

247. View of two tombs east of the Amphitheatre. From a photo 

graph (f. w. k.) 

248. View of other tombs east of the Amphitheatre. From a photo- 

graph (F. w. K.) 

249. Four-faced Ionic capital. Portico of the Fomm Triangulare 

After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 272 ..... 

250. Capital of pilaster. Casa del duca d'Aumale. After Overbeck- 

Mau, Fig. 274 

251. Altar in the court of the temple of Zeus Milichius. After Mazois, 

Vol. IV, pi. 6 (Overbeck-Mau. Fig. 63) . 

252. Capitals of columns, showing variations from typical forms. After 

Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 274 ....... 

253. Capital of pilaster, modified Corinthian type. After Overbeck 

Mau, Fig. 274 

254. Capitals of pilasters, showing free adaptation of the Corinthian 

type. After Overbeck-Mau, Fig. 274 .... 

255. Statue of the priestess Eumachia. Naples Museum. From 

photograph ......... 

256. Portrait herm of Caecilius Jucundus. Naples Museum. From a 

photograph ......... 

257. Double bust, Bacchus and a bacchante. Garden of the house o 

the Vettii. From a photograph ..... 

258. Dancing Satyr. Bronze statuette found in the house of the Faun 

Naples Museum. From a photograph .... 



ILLUSFRATIONS 



FIGCI 



259. Listening Dionysus, wrongly identified as Narcissus. Bronze 

statuette in the Naples Museum. From a photograph . . 452 

260. Bronze youth, found in November, 1900. Naples Museum. From 

a photograph 454 

261. Wall decoration in the atrium of the house of Sallust. First or 

Incrustation Style. After Tafel II of Man's Gesckichte der 
decor ativen Wandmalerei in Po7npeji ..... 460 

262. Distribution of colors in the section of wall represented in Fig. 261 461 

263. Specimen of wall decoration in the house of Spurius Mesor (VII. 

iii. 29). Third or Ornate style. After Tafel XII of Mau's 
Wandmalerei .......... 466 

264. Detail of wall decoration. Fourth style. Naples Museum. After 

Fitture di Ercolano, Vol. IV. pi. 57 . . . . . 468 

265. Specimen of wall decoration. Fourth style. From a copy in the 

Naples Museum (showing decoration that has disappeared) . 469 

266. A fruit piece, Xenion. Wall painting. Naples Museum. After 

Pitture di Ercola)io, Vol. 11. pi. 58 . . . . . . 474 

267. A landscape. Wall painting. Naples Museum. AiXtr Pitt lere di 

Ercolano^ Vol. V. p. 149 . . . . . . . . 475 

268. A group of women, one of whom is sounding two-stringed instru- 

ments. Wall painting. Naples Museum. From a photograph 476 

269. Paquius Proculus and his wife. Wall painting. Naples Museum. 

From a photograph ........ 477 

270. The grief of Hecuba. Fragment of a wall painting. House of 

Caecilius Jucundus. After Ann. delV Inst.. 1877, Tafel P. . 479 

271. Athena's pipes and the fate of Marsyas. Wall painting (V. ii. 

10). Naples Museum. From a drawing.* (Ci. Rom. Mitth., 
1890, p. 267) • . . 482 

272. The fall of Icarus. Wall painting {\ . ii. 10). From a drawing.* 

(Cf. Rom. Mttth.. 1890. p. 264) 483 

273. Zeus and Hera on Mt. Ida. Wall painting from the house of the 

Tragic Poet. Naples Museum. From a photograph . . 484 

274. Tablet with three leaves, opened so as to show the receipt and 

part of the memorandum, restored. After Overbeck-Mau. pi. 
facing p. 489 .......... 500 

275 Tablet restored, with the two leaves containing the receipt tied 

and sealed. After Overbeck-Mau. pi. facing p. 489 . . 501 



INTRODUCTION 
CHAPTER I 

■ THE SITUATION OF POMPEII 

From Gaeta, where the south end of the Volscian range 
borders abruptly upon the sea, to the peninsula of Sorrento, a 
broad gulf stretched in remote ages, cutting its way far into the 
land. Its waves dashed upon the base of the mountains which 
now, rising with steep slope, mark the eastern boundary of the 
Campanian Plain — Mt. Tifata above Capua, Mt. Taburno back 
of Nola, and lying across the southeast corner, the huge mass 
of Monte Sant' Angelo, whose sharply defined line of elevation 
is continued in the heights of Sorrento. 

This gulf was transformed by volcanic agencies into a fertile 
plain. Here two fissures in the earth's crust cross each other, 
each marked by a series of extinct or active volcanoes. One 
fissure runs in the direction of the Italian Peninsula ; along 
it lie Monti Berici near Vicenza, Mt, Amiata below Chiusi, the 
lakes of Bolsena and Bracciano filling extinct craters, the Alban 
Mountains, and finally Stromboli and Aetna. The other runs 
from east to west ; its direction is indicated by Mt. Vulture 
near Venosa, Mt. Epomeo on the island of Ischia, and the 
Ponza Islands. 

At three places in the old sea basin the subterranean fires 
burst forth. Near the north shore rose the great volcano of 
-Rocca Monfina, which added itself to the Volscian Mountains, 
and heaping the products of its eruptions upon Mons Massicus, 
— once an island, — formed with this the northern boundary of 
the plain. Toward the middle the numerous small vents of the 
Phlegraean Fields threw up the low heights, to which the north 



2 POMPEII 

shore of the Bay of Naples — Posihpo, Baiae, Misenum — is 
indebted for its incomparable beauty of landscape. Finally, 
near the south shore, at the intersection of the fissures, the 
massive cone of Vesuvius rose, in complete isolation — the 
only volcano on the continent of Europe still remaining active. 
Its base on the southwest is washed by the sea, while on the 
other sides a stretch of level country separates it from the 







Fig. I. — Map of Ancient Campania. 



mountains that hem in the plain. On the side opposite from 
the sea, however, Vesuvius comes so near to the mountains 
that we may well say that it divides the Campanian plain into 
two parts, of which the larger, on the northwest side, is drained 
by the Volturno ; the small southeast section is the plain of the 
Sarno. 

The Sarno, like the Umbrian Clitumnus, has no upper course. 
At the foot of Mt. Taburno, bounding the plain on the north- 



THE SITUATION OF POMPEII 3 

east, are five copious springs that soon unite to form a stream. 
Since 1843 the river has been drawn off for purposes of irri- 
gation into three channels, which are graded at different levels ; 
the distribution of water thus assured makes this part of Cam- 
pania one of the most fertile districts in Italy. In antiquity the 
Sarno must have been confined to a single channel ; according 
to Strabo it was navigable for ships. 

In Roman times three cities shared in the possession of the 
Sarno plain Furthest inland, facing the pass in the mountains 
that opens toward the Gulf of Salerno, lay Nuceria, now Nocera. 
On the seashore, where the coast road to Sorrento branches off 




Fig. 2. — Vesuvius as seen from Naples. 

toward the southwest, was Stabiae, now Castellammare. North 
of Stabiae, at the foot of Vesuvius, Pompeii stood, on an eleva- 
tion overlooking the Sarno, formed by the end of a stream of 
lava that in some past age had flowed from Vesuvius down 
toward the sea. Pompeii thus united the advantages of an 
easily fortified hill town with those of a maritime city. '' It 
lies," says Strabo, "on the Sarnus, which accommodates a 
traffic in both imports and exports ; it is the seaport of Nola, 
Nuceria, and Acerrae." 

A glance at the map will show how conveniently situated 
Pompeii was to serve as a seaport for Nola and Nuceria ; 
but it seems hardly credible that the inhabitants of Acerrae, 
which lay much nearer Naples, should have preferred for their 



4 POMPEII 

marine traffic the circuitous route around Vesuvius to the Sarno. 
However that may have been, Pompeii was beyond doubt the 
most important town in the Sarno plain. 

Pompeii formerly lay nearer the sea and nearer the river 
than at present. In the course of the centuries alluvial deposits 
have pushed the shore line further and further away. It is 
now about a mile and a quarter from the nearest point of the 
city to the sea ; in antiquity it was less than a third of a mile. 
The line of the ancient coast can still be traced by means of a 
clearly marked depression, beyond which the stratification of 
the volcanic deposits thrown out in 79 does not reach. The 
Sarno, too, now flows nearly two thirds of a mile from Pompeii ; 
in antiquity, according to all indications, it was not more than 
half so far away. 

In point of climate and outlook, a fairer site for a city could 
scarcely have been chosen. The Pompeian, living in clear air, 
could look down upon the fogs which in the wet season fre- 
quently rose from the river and spread over the plain. And 
while in winter Stabiae, lying on the northwest side of Monte 
Sant' Angelo, enjoyed the sun for only a few hours, the eleva- 
tion on which Pompeii stood, sloping gently toward the east and 
south, more sharply toward the west, was bathed in sunlight 
during the entire day. 

Winter at Pompeii is mild and short ; spring and autumn 
are long. The heat of summer, moreover, is not extreme. In 
the early morning, it is true, the heat is at times oppressive. 
No breath of air stirs ; and we look longingly off upon the 
expanse of sea where, far away on the horizon, in the direc- 
tion of Capri, a dark line of rippling waves becomes visible. 
Nearer it comes, and nearer. About ten o'clock it reaches 
the shore, The leaves begin to rustle, and in a few moments 
the sea breeze sweeps over the city, strong, cool, and invigo- 
rating. The wind blows till just before sunset. The early 
hours of the evening are still; the pavements and the walls 
of the houses give out the heat which they have absorbed 
during the day. But soon — perhaps by nine o'clock — the 
tree tops again begin to murmur, and all night long, from the 
mountains of the interior, a gentle, refreshing stream of air 



THE SITUATION OF POMPEII 5 

flows down through the gardens, the roomy atriums and 
colonnades of the houses, the silent streets, and the buildings 
about the Forum, with an effect indescribably soothing. 

How shall I undertake to convey to the reader who has 
not visited Pompeii, an impression of the beauty of its situa- 
tion ? Words are weak when confronted with the reality. Sea, 
mountains, and plain, — strong and pleasing background, — great 




Fig. 3. — View from Pompeii, looking south. 



masses and brilliant yet harmonious colors, splendid foreground 
effects and hazy vistas, undisturbed nature and the handiwork 
of man, all are blended into a landscape of the grand style, 
the like of which I should not know where else to look for. 

If we turn toward the south, we have at our feet the level 
plain of the Sarno, in antiquity as now — we may suppose — not 
checkered with villages but dotted here and there with groups 
of farm buildings, surrounded with stately trees. Beyond the 
plain rises the lofty barrier of Monte Sant' Angelo, thickly wooded 



6 POMPEII 

in places, its summit standing out against the sky in a long, 
beautiful profile, which, toward the right, breaks up into bold, 
rugged notches ; the side of the mountain below is richly di- 
versified with deep valleys, projecting ridges, and terraces that 
in the distance seem like steps, where among vineyards and 
olive orchards stand two villages fair to look on, Gragnano 
and Lettere, so near that individual houses can be clearly 
distinguished. Further west the plain before us opens out 
upon the sea, while the mountains are continued in the pre- 
cipitous coast of the peninsula of Sorrento. Height crowds 
upon height, with villages wreathed in olive orchards lying 
between. Here the hills descend in terraces to the sea, covered 
with vegetation to the water's edge ; there the covering of soil 
has been cast off from the steep slopes, exposing the naked 
rock, which shines in the afternoon sun with a reddish hue that 
wonderfully accords with the dark shades of the foHage and the 
brilliant blue of the sea. Further on the tints become duller, 
and the sight is blurred ; only with effort can we distinguish Sor- 
rento, resting on cliffs that rise almost perpendicularly from the 
fine of the shore. Further still the outline of the peninsula 
sinks into the sea and gives place to Capri, island of fantastic 
shape, whose crags rising sheer from the water stand out 
sharply in the bright sunlight. 

But we look toward the north, and the splendid variety of 
form and color vanishes ; there stands only the vast, sombre 
mass of the great destroyer, Vesuvius, towering above the city 
and the plain. The sun as it nears the horizon veils the bare 
ashen cone with a mantle of deep violet, while the cloud of 
smoke that rises from the summit shines with a golden glow. 
Far above the base the sides are covered with vineyards, among 
which small groups of white houses can here and there be seen. 
West of us the outline of the mountain descends in a strong, 
simple curve to the sea. Just before it blends with the 
shore there rise behind it distant heights wrapped in blue 
haze, the first of moderate elevation, then others more promi- 
nent and further to the left. They are the heights along the 
north shore of the Bay of Naples — Gaurus crowned with 
the monastery of Camaldoli, famous for its magnificent view ; 



THE SITUATION OF POMPEII 7 

the cliffs of Baiae, the promontory of Misenum, and the lofty 
cone of Epomeo on the island of Ischia. So the eye trav- 
erses the whole expanse of the Bay ; Naples itself, hidden 
from our view, lies between those distant heights and the base 
of Vesuvius. 

But meanwhile the sun has set behind Misenum ; its last rays 
are lighting up the cloud of smoke above Vesuvius and the 
summit of Monte Sant' Angelo. The brilliancy of coloring has 
faded ; the weary eye finds rest in the soft afterglow. We also 
may take leave of these beautiful surroundings, and inquire into 
the beginnings of the city which was founded here. 



CHAPTER II 

BEFORE 79 

When Pompeii was founded we do not know. It is more 
than likely that a site so well adapted for a city was occupied 
at an early date. The oldest building, the Doric temple in the 
Forum Triangulare, is of the style of the sixth century B.C. ; 
we are safe in assuming that the city was then already in exist- 
ence.^ The founders were Oscans. They belonged to a widely 
scattered branch of the Italic stock, whose language, closely re- 
lated with the Latin, has been imperfectly recovered from a con- 
siderable number of inscriptions, so imperfectly that in each of 
the longer inscriptions there still remain words the meaning 
of which is obscure or doubtful. From this language the name 
of the city came; for pompe in Oscan meant ' five.' The word 
does not, however, appear in its simple form ; we have only the 
adjective derived from it, pompaiians, ' Pompeian.' If we are 
right in assuming that the name appeared in Oscan, as it does 
in Latin, in the plural form, it was probably applied first to a 
gens, or clan, and thence to the city ; the Latin equivalent of 
Pompeii would be Quintii. Pompeii was thus the city of the 
clan of the Pompeys, as Tarquinii was the city of the Tarquins, 
and Veil the city of the Veian clan. The name Pompeius was 
common in Pompeii down to the destruction of the city, and in 
other Campanian towns, notably Puteoli, to much later times. 

In order to follow the course of events at Pompeii, it will be 
necessary to pass briefly in review the main points in the his- 
tory of Campania. The Campanian Oscans, sprung from a 

1 It seems strange that traces of other buildings of the same period have not been 
discovered; but, on the other hand, it is far from probable that the temple was first 
erected, and that the city afterward grew up around it, for in that case the temple 
must have been placed further west, on the highest point of the elevation, overlook- 
ing the sea. 

8 



BEFORE 79 9 

rude and hardy race, became civilized from contact with the 
Greeks, who at an early period had settled in Cumae, in Dicae- 
archia, afterward Puteoli, and in Parthenope, later Naples ; and 
the coast climate had an enervating effect upon them. When 
toward the end of the fifth century B.C. the Samnites, kinsmen 
of the Oscans, left their rugged mountain homes in the interior 
and pressed down toward the coast, the Oscans were unable to 
cope with them. In 424 B.C. the Samnites stormed and took 
Capua, in 420, Cumae ; and Pompeii likewise fell into their 
hands. But they were no more successful than the Oscans had 
been in resisting the influence of Greek culture. How strong 
this influence was may be seen in the remains at Pompeii. The 
architecture of the period was Greek ; Greek divinities were 
honored, as Apollo and Zeus Milichius ; and the standard meas- 
ures of the inensa ponderaria were inscribed with Greek names. 

In less than a hundred years new strifes arose between the 
more cultured Samnites of the plain and their rough and war- 
like kinsmen in the mountains. But Rome took a part in the 
struggle, and in the Samnite Wars (343-290 B.C.) brought both 
the men of the mountains and the men of the plain under her 
dominion. Although the sovereignty of Rome took the form 
of a perpetual alliance, the cities in reality lost their indepen- 
dence. The complete subjugation and Romanizing of Cam- 
pania, however, did not come till the time of the Social War 
(90-88 B.C.) and the supremacy of Sulla ; the Samnites staked 
all on the success of the popular party, and lost. 

In the narrative of these events Pompeii is not often men- 
tioned. At the time of the Second Samnite War, in the year 310 
B.C., we read that a Roman fleet under PubHus Cornelius landed 
at the mouth of the Sarno, and that a pillaging expedition fol- 
lowed the course of the river as far as Nuceria ; but the country 
folk fell on the marauders as they were returning, and forced 
them to give up their booty. We have no definite information 
regarding the attitude of the Pompeians after the battle of 
Cannae (216 B.C.); probably they joined the side of Hannibal, 
who, however, was defeated by Marcus Marcellus near Nola in 
the following year, and was obliged to leave Campania to the 
Romans. 



10 POMPEII 

In the Social War, when, in the summer of 90 B.C., the Sam- 
nite army marched into Campania, Pompeii alUed itself with 
the insurgents ; as a consequence, in 89, it was besieged by 
Sulla, but without success. Two years later, Sulla went to Asia 
to conduct the war against Mithridates. Returning victorious 
in the spring of 83 B.C., he led his army into Campania, where 
he spent the winter of 83-82 ; his soldiers, grown brutal in the 
Asiatic war and accustomed to every kind of license, may have 
proved unwelcome guests for the Pompeians. 

The sequel came in the year 80, when a colony of Roman 
veterans was settled in Pompeii under the leadership of Publius 
Sulla, a nephew of the Dictator. Cicero later made a speech 
in behalf of this Sulla, defending him against the charge that 
he had taken part in the conspiracy of Catiline and had tried to 
induce the old residents of Pompeii to join in the plot. From 
this speech we learn that Sulla's reorganization of the city was 
accomplished with so great regard for the interests of the 
Pompeians, that they ever after held him in grateful remem- 
brance. We learn, also, that soon after the founding of the 
colony disputes arose between the old residents and the colonists, 
about the public walks {ambiUatio7ies) and matters connected 
with the voting ; the arrangements for voting had probably 
been so made as to throw the decision always into the hands 
of the colonists. The controversy was referred to the patrons 
of the colony, and settled by them. From this time on, the life 
of Pompeii seems not to have differed from that of the other 
small cities of Italy. 

As the harbor of Pompeii was on the Sarno, which flowed at 
some distance from the city, there must have been a small 
settlement at the landing place. To this probably belonged a 
group of buildings, partly excavated in 1880-81, lying just across 
the Sarno canal (canale del Bottaro), about a third of a mile 
from the Stabian Gate. Here were found many skeletons, and 
with them a quantity of gold jewellery, which was afterward 
placed in the Museum at Naples. The most reasonable 
explanation of the discovery is, that the harbor was here, and 
that these persons, gathering up their valuables, fled from 
Pompeii at the time of the eruption either in order to escape by 



BEFORE 79 ii 

sea or to take refuge in Stabiae. Flight in either case was cut 
off. If ships were in the harbor, they must soon have been 
filled with the volcanic deposits ; if there was a bridge across 
the river it was probably thrown down by the earthquake. 

A second suburb sprang up near the sea, in connection with 
the salt works {salinae) of the city. Our knowledge of the 
inhabitants, the Salinenses, is derived from several inscriptions 
painted upon walls, in which they recommend candidates for the 
municipal offices, and from an inscription scratched upon the 
plaster of a column in which a fuller by the name of Crescens 
sends them a greeting : Cresce\n\s fullo Saline\n\sibus sahite\in\ 
From another inscription we learn that they had an assembly, 
conventiis, possibly judicial in its functions ; for in connection 
with a date, it speaks of a fine of twenty sesterces, which would 
amount to about 3^ shillings, or 85 cents : VII K. dec. Salijiis 
in conveiitii midta HS XX, ' Fine of twenty sesterces ; assem- 
bly at Salinae, November 25.' Still another inscription speaks 
of attending such a meeting on November 19 : XIII K. dec. 
in conventit veni. 

The suburb most frequently mentioned was at first called 
Pagus Felix Suburbanus, but after the time of Augustus, 
Pagus Augustus Felix Suburbanus. Its location is unknown. 
As it evidently took the name of Felix from the Dictator Sulla, 
who used this epithet as a surname, we may assume that its 
origin dates from the establishment of the Roman colony; it 
may have been founded to provide a place for those inhabitants 
of Pompeii who had been forced to leave their homes in order 
to make room for the colonists. The existence of a fourth 
suburb is inferred from two painted inscriptions in which 
candidates for office are recommended by the Campanienses ; 
this name would naturally be applied to the inhabitants of 
a Pagus Campanus, who, perhaps, had originally come from 
Capua. 

Of the government of Pompeii in the earliest times, before 
the Samnite conquest, nothing is known. The names of various 
magistrates in the Samnite period, however, particularly the 
period of alliance with Rome (290-90 B.C.), are learned from 
inscriptions. Mention is made of a chief administrative officer 



12 



POMPEII 



{inedtss, mediss tovtiks); of quaestors, who, probably, like the 
quaestors in Rome, were charged with the financial administra- 
tion and let the contracts for public buildings ; and of aediles, 
to whom, no doubt, was intrusted the care of streets and build- 
ings, together with the policing of 
the markets. The Latin names of 
the last two officials suggest that 
their offices were introduced after 
290. There was also an assembly 
called ko7nbenniom, with which we 
may compare the Latin conventtts ; 
but whether it was an assembly of 
the people or a city council cannot 
now be determined. 

After the estabhshment of the 
Roman colony, Pompeii was named 
Colojiia Cornelia Vcncria Povipeiaiio- 
ruDi, from the gentile name of the 
Dictator Sulla (Lucius Cornelius Sulla 
F^elix) and from the goddess to whom 
he paid special honor, who now, as 
Venus Pompeiana, became the tute- 
lary divinity of the city. This god- 
dess is represented in wall paintings. In that from which our 
illustration is taken (Fig. 4), she appears in a blue mantle stud- 
ded with golden stars, and wears a crown set with green stones. 
Her left hand, which holds a sceptre, rests upon a rudder; in 
her right is a twig of olive. A Cupid stands upon a pedestal 
beside her, holding up a mirror. 

From this time the highest official body, as in Roman colo- 
nies everywhere, was the city council, composed of decurions. 
The administration was placed in the hands of two pairs of 
officials, the duumvirs with judiciary authority, duumviri iuri 
dicundo, and two aediles, who were responsible for the care 
of buildings and streets and the oversight of the markets. 
When the duumvirs and the aediles joined in official acts they 
were known as the Board of Four, quattuorviri. Down to the 
time of the Empire it appears that the aediles were not desig- 




Fig. 4. — Venus Pompeiana. 
From a wall painting. 



BEFORE 79 13 

nated officially by that name, but by a title known to us only 
in an abbreviated form, dinnnviri v. a. sacr. p. proc. This prob- 
ably stands for duumviri viis, aedibus, sacris piLblicis procurandis^ 
' duumvirs in charge of the streets, the temples, and the public 
religious festivals.' The title of aedile seems to have been 
avoided because it had been in use in the days of autonomy, and 
the authorities thought it prudent to suppress everything that 
would suggest the former state of independence. Nevertheless, 
the word retained its place in ordinary speech, as is shown by its 
use in the inscriptions painted on walls recommending candi- 
dates for office ; thence it finally forced its way back into the 
official language. The duumvirs of every fifth year were called 
quinquennial duumvirs, dinimviri quiiiqueiinales, and assumed 
functions corresponding with those of the censors at Rome; 
they gave attention to matters of finance, and revised the lists 
of decurions and of citizens. 

All these officials were elected annually by popular vote. 
The candidates offered themselves beforehand. If none came 
forward, or there were too few, — for the city officials not only 
received no salary, but were under obligation to make generous 
contributions for public purposes, as theatrical representations, 
games, and buildings, — the magistrate who presided at the 
election named candidates for the vacancies ; but each candi- 
date so named had the right to nominate a second for the same 
vacancy, the second in turn a third. The voting was by ballot ; 
each voter threw his voting tablet into the urn of his precinct. 
No information has come down to us regarding the precincts 
{curiae) into which the city must have been divided for electoral 
purposes. 

The election of a candidate was valid only in case he received 
the vote of an absolute majority of the precincts. If the result 
was indecisive for all or a part of the offices, the city council 
chose an extraordinary official who bore the title of prefect with 
judiciary authority, praefectus iuri dicundo. This prefect took 
the place of the duumvirs, not only when an election was inde- 
cisive, but also when vacancies arose in some other way, or 
when peculiar conditions seemed to make it desirable to have 
an officer of unusual powers, a kind of dictator ; or finally, when 



14 POMPEII 

the emperor had received the vote ; in the last two cases, the 
prefect was undoubtedly appointed by the emperor. Thus, in 
the years 34 and 40 a.d., the Emperor Caligula was duumvir of 
Pompeii ; but the duties of the office were discharged by a pre- 
fect. A law passed in Rome toward the end of the Republic 
on the motion of a certain Petronius contained provisions 
regarding the appointment of prefects ; one chosen in accord- 
ance with them was called praefectits ex lege Petrojiia, * prefect 
according to the law of Petronius.' 

There were also in Pompeii priests supported by the city, but 
only a few of them are mentioned in the inscriptions. Refer- 
ences are found to augurs and pontifices, to a priest of Mars, 
and to priests {Jlainen, sacerdos) of Augustus while he was still 
living ; Nero had a priest even before he ascended the throne. 
Mention is made of priestesses, too, a priestess of Ceres and 
Venus, priestesses of Ceres, and others, the divinities of whom 
are not named. 

The suburbs could scarcely have had a separate administra- 
tion ; they remained within the jurisdiction of the magistrates 
of the city. In the case of the Pagus Augustus Felix mention 
is made of a magister, 'director,' ministri, 'attendants,' and 
pagaiii, ' pagus officials ' ; but apparently these were all ap- 
pointed for religious functions only, in connection with the 
worship of the emperor. The magister and the pagaiii, in 
part at least, were freedmen ; the four ininisti'i, first appointed 
in 7 B.C., were slaves. 

Apart from commerce, an important source of income for the 
Pompeians lay in the fertility of the soil. In antiquity, as now, 
grapes were cultivated extensively on the ridge projecting from 
the foot of Vesuvius toward the south. The evidence afforded 
by the great number of wine jars, amphorae (Fig. 5), that have 
been brought to hght would warrant this conclusion ; and lately 
wine presses also have been discovered near Boscoreale, above 
Pompeii. Pliny makes mention of the Pompeian wine, but 
remarks that indulgence in it brings a headache that will last till 
noon of the following day. The olive too was cultivated, but 
only to a limited extent ; this we infer from the small capacity 
of the press and other appliances for making oil found in the 



BEFORE 79 



15 



same villa in which the wine presses were discovered. At the 
present time the making of oil is not carried on about Pompeii. 
In the plain below the city vegetables were raised, as at the 
present day ; the cabbage and onions of Pompeii were highly 
prized. 

The working up of the products of the fisheries formed 
an important industry. The fish sauces which so tickled the 
palate of ancient epicures, garitm, 
liqiiamen, and inuria, were produced 
here of the finest quality. The mak- 
ing of them seems to have been prac- 
tically a monopoly in the hands of a 
certain Umbricius Scaurus ; a great 
number of earthen jars have been 
found with the mark of his owner- 
ship (p. 506). 

The Pompeians turned to account, 
also, the volcanic products of Vesu- 
vius. Pumice stone was an article 
of export. From the lava millstones 
were made for both grain mills and 
oil mills, which were apparently al- 
ready in extensive use in the time of 
Cato the Elder ; he twice mentions 

the oil mills of Pompeii. In Pompeii itself the millstones of 
the oldest period are of lava from Vesuvius ; later it was found 
that the lava of Rocca Monfina was better adapted for the pur- 
pose, and millstones of that material were preferred. Small 
hand-mills of the lava from Vesuvius were in use at Pompeii 
down to 79 ; but the larger millstones of this material found in 
the bakeries had been put one side. In shape and finish the 
mills of local make were superior to the more carelessly worked 
stones from Rocca Monfina ; the preference for the latter was 
due to the fact that they contained numerous crystals of leucite, 
which broke off as the mill wore away, and so kept the grinding 
surfaces always rough. Millstones from Rocca Monfina may 
be seen at different places in Rome, as in the Museum of the 
luiths of Diocletian. 




— An amphora from 
Boscoreale. 



i6 POMPEII 

To the sources of revenue which contributed to the pros- 
perity of Pompeii we may add the presence of wealthy Romans, 
who, attracted by the dehghtful cHmate, built country seats in 
the vicinity. Among them was Cicero, who often speaks of his 
Pompeian villa (Pompeianum). That the imperial family also had 
a villa here is inferred from a curious accident. We read that 
Drusus, the young son of the Emperor Claudius, a few days 
after his betrothal to the daughter of Sejanus, was choked to 
death at Pompeii by a pear which he had thrown up into the air 
and caught in his mouth. These country seats, no doubt, lay 
on the high ground back of Pompeii, toward Vesuvius; they 
probably faced the sea. But the identification of a villa exca- 
vated in the last century, and then filled up again, as the villa of 
Cicero, is wholly without foundation. 

Salve lucrnni, ' Welcome, Gain ! ' Such is the inscription 
which a Pompeian placed in the mosaic floor of his house. 
Lncnnn gaiidium, ' Gain is pure joy,' we read on the threshold 
of another house. A thrifty Pompeian certainly did not lack 
opportunity to acquire wealth. 

How large a population Pompeii possessed at the time of the 
destruction of the city it is impossible to determine. A pains- 
taking examination of all the houses excavated would afford 
data for an approximate estimate ; but the results thus far ob- 
tained by those who have given attention to the subject are 
unsatisfactory. Fiorelli assigned to Pompeii twelve thousand 
inhabitants, Nissen twenty thousand. Undoubtedly the second 
estimate is nearer the truth than the first ; according to all indi- 
cation the population may very likely have exceeded twenty 
thousand. 

This population was by no means homogeneous. The origi- 
nal Oscan stock had not yet lost its identity ; inscriptions in the 
Oscan dialect are found scratched on the plaster of walls deco- 
rated in the style prevalent after the earthquake of the year 63. 
From the time when the Roman colony was founded no doubt 
additions continued to be made to the population from various 
parts of Italy. The Greek element was particularly strong. 
This is proved by the number of Greek names in the accounts 
of Caecilius Jucundus, for example, and by the Greek inscrip- 



BEFORE 79 17 

tions that have been found on walls and on amphorae. The 
Greeks may have come from the neighboring towns ; most of 
them were probably freedmen. In a seaport we should expect 
to find also Greeks from trans-marine cities ; and, in fact, an 
Alexandrian appears in one of the receipts of Jucundus. There 
were Orientals, too, as we shall see when we come to the tem- 
ple of Isis. 

Thus far there has come to hand no trustworthy evidence for 
the presence of Christians at Pompeii ; but traces of Jewish 
influence are not lacking. The words Sodoma, Gomom, are 
scratched in large letters on the wall of a house in Region IX 
(IX. i. 26). They must have been written by a Jew, or possibly 
a Christian ; they seem like a prophecy of the fate of the city. 




Fig. 6. — The Judgment of Solomon. Wall painting. 

Another interesting bit of evidence is a wall painting, which 
appears to have as its subject the Judgment of Solomon (Fig. 6). 
On a tribunal at the right sits the king with two advisers ; the 
pavilion is well guarded with soldiers. In front of the tribunal 
a soldier is about to cut a child in two with a cleaver. Two 
women are represented, one of whom stands at the block and is 
already taking hold of the half of the child assigned to her, 
while the other casts herself on her knees as a suppliant before 
the judges. It is not certain that the reference here is to Solo- 
mon ; such tales pass from one country to another, and a some- 
what similar story is told of the Egyptian king Bocchoris. The 
balance of probability is in favor of the view that we have here 
the Jewish version of the story, because this is consistent with 
other facts that point to the existence of a Jewish colony at 
Pompeii. 



i8 POMPEII 

The names Maria and Martha appear in wall inscriptions. 
The assertion that Maria here is not the Hebrew name, but the 
feminine form of the Roman name Marius, is far astray. It 
appears in a list of female slaves who were working in a 
weaver's establishment, Vitahs, Florentina, Amaryllis, Januaria, 
Heracla, Maria, Lalage, Damalis, Doris. The Marian family 
was represented at Pompeii, but the Roman name Maria could 
not have been given to a slave. That we have here a Jewish 
name seems certain since the discovery of the name Martha. 

In inscriptions upon wine jars we find mention of a certain 
M. Valerius Abinnerichus, a name which is certainly Jewish or 
Syrian ; but whether Abinnerich was a dealer, or the owner of the 
estate on which the wine was produced, cannot be determined. 
In this connection it is worth while to note that vessels have 
been found with the inscribed labels, ^i,'-^?;' [/////] cast\iim'\ or 
cast\ii)ionialc\ and i)mr\ia'\ cast\_a\. As we learn from Pliny 
(N. H. XXXI. viii. 95), these fish sauces, prepared for fast 
days, were used especially by the Jews. 

Some have thought that the word Christianas can be read in 
an inscription written with charcoal, and have fancied that they 
found a reference to the persecution of the Christians under 
Nero. But charcoal inscriptions, which will last for centuries 
when covered with earth, soon become illegible if exposed to 
the air ; such an inscription, traced on a wall at the time of the 
persecutions under Nero, must have disappeared long before the 
destruction of the city. The inscription in question was indis- 
tinct when discovered, and has since entirely faded ; the reading 
is quite uncertain. If it were proved that the word " Chris- 
tians " appeared in it, we should be warranted only in the infer- 
ence that Christians were known at Pompeii, not that they lived 
and worshipped there. According to Tertullian (Apol. 40) there 
were no Christians in Campania before 79. 



CHAPTER III 

THE CITY OVERWHELMED 

Previous to the terrible eruption of 79, Vesuvius was con- 
sidered an extinct volcano. " Above these places," says Strabo, 
writing in the time of Augustus, " lies Vesuvius, the sides of 
which are well cultivated, even to the summit. This is level, 
but quite unproductive. It has a cindery appearance ; for the 
rock is porous and of a sooty color, the appearance suggesting 
that the whole suQimit may once have been on fire and have 
contained craters, the fires of which died out when there was 
no longer anything left to burn." 

Earthquakes, however, were of common occurrence in Cam- 
pania. An especially violent shock on the fifth of February, 
63 A.D., gave warning of the reawakening of Vesuvius. Great 
damage was done throughout the region lying between Naples 
and Nuceria, but the shock was most severe at Pompeii, a 
large part of the buildings of the city being thrown down. The 
prosperous and enterprising inhabitants at once set about re- 
building. When the final catastrophe came, on the twenty- 
fourth of August, 79 A.D., most of the houses were in a good 
state of repair, and the rebuilding of at least two temples, those 
of Apollo and of Isis, had been completed. This renewing of 
the city, caused by the earthquake, may be looked upon as a 
fortunate circumstance for our studies. 

Our chief source of information for the events of August 24- 
26, 79, is a couple of letters of the Younger Pliny to Tacitus, 
who purposed to make use of them in writing his history. Pliny 
was staying at Misenum with his uncle, the Elder Pliny, who 
was in command of the Roman fleet. In the first letter he tells 
of his uncle's fate. On the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, the 
admiral Pliny set out with ships to rescue from impending dan- 
ger the people at the foot of Vesuvius, particularly in the vicinity 

19 



20 POMPEII 

of Herculaneum. He came too late ; it was no longer possible 
to effect a landing. So he directed his course to Stabiae, where 
he spent the night ; and there on the following morning he died, 
suffocated by the fumes that were exhaled from the earth. 
The second letter gives an account of the writer's own ex- 
periences at Misenum. 

To this testimony little is added by the narrative of Dion 
Cassius, which was written a century and a half later and is 
known to us only in abstract ; Dion dwells at greater length on 
the powerful impression which the terrible convulsion of nature 
left upon those who were living at that time. With the help 
of the letters of Pliny, in connection with the facts established 
by the excavations, it is possible to picture to ourselves the 
progress of the eruption with a fair degree of clearness. 

The subterranean fires of Vesuvius pressed upward to find 
an outlet. The accumulations of volcanic dust and pumice 
stone that had been heaped up on the mountain by former 
eruptions were again hurled to a great height, and came down 
upon the surrounding country. On the west side of Vesuvius 
they mingled with torrents of rain, and flowed as a vast stream 
of mud down over Herculaneum. On the south side, driven 
by a northwest wind as they descended from the upper air, 
they spread out into a thick cloud, which covered Pompeii and 
the plain of the Sarno. Out of this cloud first broken frag- 
ments of pumice stone — the average size not larger than a 
walnut — rained down to the depth of eight to ten feet ; then 
followed volcanic dust, wet as it fell by a downpour of water, to 
the depth of six or seven feet. With the storm of dust came 
successive shocks of earthquake. 

Such was, in outline, the course of the eruption. It must 
have begun early in the morning of the twenty-fourth, and the 
stream of mud must have commenced immediately to move in 
the direction of Herculaneum ; for shortly after one o'clock on 
that day the admiral PHny at Misenum received letters from 
the region threatened, saying that the danger was imminent, and 
that escape was possible only by sea. Even then the Younger 
Pliny saw, high above Vesuvius, the cloud, shaped like an um- 
brella pine, which was to rain down destruction on Pompeii. 



THE CITY OVERWHELMED 21 

Toward evening, the ships off Herculaneum ran into the hail of 
pumice stone, which, during the night, reached Stabiae and so in- 
creased in violence that the admiral Phny was obHged to leave 
his sleeping room from fear that the door would be blocked up 
by the falling masses. 

Early in the morning of the twenty-fifth there was a severe 
shock of earthquake, which was felt as far as Misenum. Then 
the dust began to fall, and a cloud of fearful blackness, pierced 
through and through with flashes of lightning, settled down 
over land and sea. At Misenum, even, it became dark; "not," 
says Pliny, " as on a cloudy night when there is no moon, but 
as in a room which has been completely closed." 

How long the fall of dust lasted we can only infer from 
this, that when it ceased the sun had not yet set. In Misenum, 
which the shower of pumice stone had not reached, everything 
was covered with a thick layer of dust. Although the earth- 
quake shocks continued, the inhabitants went back into their 
houses. But Pompeii and Stabiae had been covered so deep 
that only the roofs of the houses, where these had not fallen in, 
projected above the surface ; and Herculaneum had wholly 
disappeared. 

All the plain of the Sarno was buried, as were also the slopes 
of the mountains on the south. Stabiae, as we have seen, lay at 
the foot of the mountains, on the coast. It had been destroyed 
by Sulla in the Social War ; its inhabitants, forced to scatter, 
settled in the surrounding country. In the years 1749-82 
numerous buildings were excavated in the vicinity, in part lux- 
urious country seats, in part plain farm buildings ; but the exca- 
vations were afterward filled up again. The covering of 
Stabiae was hke that of Pompeii, only not so deep. 

Herculaneum was covered with the same materials ; they 
were not, however, deposited in regular strata, but were mixed 
together, and being drenched with water, hardened into a kind 
of tufa which in places reaches a depth of sixty-five feet. Ex- 
cavating at Herculaneum is in consequence extremely difficult ; 
and the difficulty is further increased by the fact tliat a modern 
city, Resina, extends over the greater part of the ancient site. 
The excavations thus far attempted have in most cases been 



2 2 POMPEII 

conducted by means of underground passageways. The state- 
ment that Herculaneum was overflowed by a stream of lava, 
though frequently repeated, is erroneous. 

The woodwork of buildings in Pompeii has in many cases 
been preserved, but in a completely charred condition. Fre- 
quently where walls were painted with yellow ochre it has 
turned red, especially when brought immediately into contact 
with the stratum of dust — a change which this color under- 
goes when it is exposed to heat. Nevertheless, the inference 
would be unwarranted that the products of the eruption fell 
upon the city red-hot and caused a general conflagration. The 




^^''''WK^ 



Fig. 7. — Cast of a man. 



fragments of pumice stone could scarcely have retained a great 
degree of heat after having been so long in the air ; it is evident 
from Pliny's narrative that they were not hot. 

With the dust a copious rain must have fallen ; for ' the 
bodies of those who perished in the storm of dust left perfect 
moulds, into a number of which soft plaster of Paris has been 
poured, making those casts of human figures which lend a 
melancholy interest to the collections in the little Museum 
at Pompeii (Fig. 7). The extraordinary freshness of these 
figures, without any suggestion of the wasting away aft^r death, 
is explicable only on the supposition that the enveloping dust 
was damp, and so commenced immediately to harden into a 



THE CITY OVERWHELMED 23 

permanent shape. If the dust had been dry and had packed 
down and hardened afterwards, we should be able to trace at 
least the beginnings of decay. 

Neither the pumice stone nor the dust, then, could have set 
wood on fire. The woodwork must have become charred grad- 
ually from the effect of moisture, as in the case of coal, and the 
change in the color of the yellow ochre must be due to some 
other cause than the presence of heat. This is all the more 
evident from the fact that vestiges of local conflagrations, con- 
fined within narrow limits, can here and there be traced, kindled 
by the masses of glowing slag which fell at the same time with 
the pumice stone, or by the fires left burning in the houses. 

From the number of skeletons discovered in the past few 
decades, since an accurate record has been kept, it has been 
estimated that in Pompeii itself, about two thousand persons 
perished. As the city contained a population of twenty thou- 
sand or more, it is evident that the majority of the inhabitants 
fled ; since the eruption commenced in the morning, while the 
hail of pumice stone did not begin till afternoon, those who 
appreciated the greatness of the danger had time to escape. It 
is, however, impossible to say how many fled when it was 
already too late, and lost their lives outside the city. Mention 
has already been made of some who perished at the harbor ; 
others who went out earlier to the Sarno may have made good 
their escape. Of those who remained in the city part were 
buried in the houses — so with twenty persons whose skeletons 
were found in the cellar of the villa of Diomedes ; others, as 
the hail of pumice stone ceased, ventured out into the streets, 
where they soon succumbed to the shower of dust that imme- 
diately followed. As the bodies wasted away little except the 
bones was left in the hollows formed by the dust that hardened 
around them, and the casts already referred to, which have been 
made from time to time since 1863, give in some cases a re- 
markably clear and sharp representation of the victims. 

The Emperor Titus sent a commission of senators into Cam- 
pania to report in what way help could best be rendered. A 
plan was formed to rebuild the cities that had been destroyed, 
and the property of those who died without heirs was set aside 



24 POMPEII 

for this purpose. Nothing came of it, however, so far as our 
knowledge goes. Pompeii is indeed mentioned in the Peutinger 
Table, a map for travellers made in the third century, but the 
name was apparently given to a post station in memory of the 
former city. Conclusive evidence against the existence of a 
new city is the absence of any inscriptions referring to it. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE UNEARTHING OF THE CITY 

The first excavations at Pompeii were undertaken by the 
survivors shortly after the destruction of the city. As the 
upper parts of the houses that had not fallen in projected above 
the surface, it was possible to locate the places under which 
objects of value were buried. Men dug down from the surface 
at certain points and tunnelled from room to room underneath, 
breaking through the intervening walls. This work was facili- 
tated by the stratification of the volcanic deposit ; the loose 
bits of pumice stone in the lower stratum were easily removed, 
while the stratum of dust above was compact enough to fur- 
nish a fairly safe roof for narrow passageways. Only infre- 
quently is a house discovered that was left undisturbed ; from 
this we understand why comparatively little household furniture 
of value has been found. Not only were rich house furnishings 
in demand, — the excavators carried away valuable building 
materials as well. So eagerly were these sought after that 
large buildings, as those about the Forum, were almost com- 
pletely stripped of their marble. 

In the Middle Ages Pompeii was quite forgotten. Possibly 
some remains of the ancient buildings were yet to be seen ; at 
any rate it seems to have been believed that a city once existed 
there, for the site was called La Civita. 

In the years 1 594-1600 Domenico Fontana was bringing 
water from one of the springs of the Sarno to Torre Annun- 
ziata, and in the course of the work cut an underground 
channel through the site of Pompeii and discovered two 
inscriptions ; but no further investigations were made. The 
indifference of Fontana may be explained by the fact that the 
water channel was not dug out from above, like a railway 
cutting, and then covered over, but was carried as a tunnel 

25 



26 POMPEII 

through the hill on which the city stood, so that the work- 
men came to the ancient surface at only a few points. In the 
part now excavated, the original level was disturbed in but 
one place, near the temple of Zeus Miiichius ; here the in- 
scriptions were probably found. 

The excavation of the buried Campanian towns began, not at 
Pompeii, but at Herculaneum, where in 1709 the workmen of 
the Austrian general, Count Elbeuf, sunk a shaft, reaching the 
ancient level at the rear of the stage of the theatre. The 
current statement that Elbeuf discovered the site of Hercula- 
neum by accident, his workmen being engaged in digging a 
well, is erroneous. The location of the city was already known, 
and Elbeuf was searching for antiquities. The error probably 
originated in a misunderstanding of the Italian word pozzo, 
which has a double meaning, "shaft," and *'well." 

At first little was accomplished, but after 1738 excavations 
were carried on by King Charles III in a more systematic 
manner. The director of these excavations, Rocco Gioacchino 
de Alcubierre, in March, 1748, had occasion to inspect the 
water channel mentioned above, and learned that at the place 
called La Civita — which he thought was Stabiae — objects of 
antiquity were often found. He came to the conclusion 
that this site was more promising than that of Herculaneum, 
where the excavations just then were yielding little of value ; 
the result of his recommendation was that on the thirtieth of 
the same month excavations were commenced at Pompeii, with 
twelve workmen. 

The first digging was done north of Nola Street, near the 
Casa del Torello ; then the men were set at work on the Street 
of Tombs, near the Herculaneum Gate ; and a part of the 
Amphitheatre also was cleared. In 1750 the work was stopped, 
because the results were thought to be unimportant. 

Attention was again directed to Pompeii in 1754, when work- 
men engaged in constructing the highway that runs just south 
of the city discovered a number of tombs. About the same 
time, west of the Amphitheatre, the extensive establishment of 
Julia Felix, arranged like a villa, and some buildings lying north 
of it, were excavated ; but they were all covered up again, as 



THE UNEARTHING OF THE CITY 27 

was also the so-called villa of Cicero, which was uncovered in 

1763. 

The parts excavated were not left clear until after 1763, when 
the discovery of the inscription of Suedius Clemens, on the 
Street of Tombs, had established the fact that the site was that 
of Pompeii. Important discoveries were made soon after. In 
the years immediately following 1764 the theatres, with the 
adjacent buildings, and the Street of Tombs, together with the 
villa of Diomedes, were laid bare. The excavations were con- 
ducted slo\vly and without system, yet wdth scientific interest 
fostered by the Herculaneum Academy (Accademia ercolanese), 
which had been founded in 1755. 

Under Joseph Bonaparte and Murat, 1806-15, the work 
received larger appropriations, and was prosecuted with greater 
energy, particularly in the quarter lying between the Hercula- 
neum Gate and the Forum. In the same period the Forum was 
approached from the south side also. In 1799, at the time of 
the Parthenopean Republic, the French general Championnet 
had excavated, south of the Basihca, the two houses which are still 
called by his name. From these, in 181 3, the excavators made 
their way into the Basihca, whence, in November of the same 
year, they pushed forward into the Forum. However, the 
excavation of the Forum itself with the surrounding buildings, 
prosecuted less vigorously and with limited means in the period 
of the Restoration, was not completed till 1825; by this time 
the temple of Fortuna and the Baths north of the Forum had 
also been uncovered. The following years, to 1832, brought to 
light the beautiful houses on the north side of Nola Street — 
the houses of Pansa, of the Tragic Poet, and of the Faun — 
and those on Mercury Street; later came excavations south of 
Nola Street and in various parts of the city. 

The disturbances of the period of Revolution caused a cessa- 
tion of work for two years, from July 3, 1848, to September 27, 
1850. During the next nine years effort was expended chiefly 
in clearing Stabian Street and the Stabian Baths. 

The fall of the Bourbon dynasty and the passing over of 
Naples to the Kingdom of Italy caused another interruption, 
which lasted a year, from December 5, 1859, to December 20, 



28 



POMPEII 



i860. On the last date the excavations were resumed under the 
direction of Giuseppe Fiorelli, a man of marked individuality, 
who left a permanent impress upon every part of the work. 
To him is due the present admirable system, excellent alike from 
the technical and from the administrative point of view. We 
owe it to him, that better provision is made now than 
formerly for the preservation and care of excavated buildings 




i'lg. 6. 



.uuun. Atrium of the house of the Silver WedcUin 
autumn of 1892. 



:lcarcd in the 



and objects discovered ; the earher efforts in this direction 
naturally left room for improvement, and the painstaking of the 
present administration is especially worthy of commendation. 

Fiorelli put an end to haphazard digging, to excavating here 
and there wherever the site seemed most promising. He first 
set about clearing the undisturbed places lying between the 
excavated portions ; and when in this way the west part of 
the city had been laid bare, he commenced to work systemati- 
cally from the excavated part toward the east. Since i860 only 



THE UNEARFHING OF THE CITY 29 

one public building has been excavated — the baths at the 
corner of Stabian and Nola streets ; but many private houses 
have been uncovered, some of which are of much interest. 
Fiorelli remained in charge of the excavations until 1875, when 
he was called to Rome to become General Director of Museums 
and Excavations ; he died in 1 896, at the age of seventy-two. 
His successors, first Michele Ruggiero, then Giulio de Petra, 
have worked according to his plans, and in full sympathy with 
his ideals. 

Up to the present time about three-fifths of Pompeii have been 
excavated. In 1872 Fiorelli made the calculation that if the 
excavations should continue at the rate then followed the whole 
city would be laid bare in 74 years. Since that time the work 
has progressed more slowly, partly in consequence of the 
greater care taken for the preservation of the remains. At 
the present rate of progress we may believe that the twentieth 
century will hardly witness the completion of the excavations. 

Articles of furniture and objects of art that can easily be 
moved, as the statuettes often found in the gardens, are ordi- 
narily taken to the Museum in Naples ; a few things have been 
placed in the little Museum at Pompeii. Now and then small 
sculptures have been left in a house exactly as they were found ; 
but the necessity of keeping such houses locked and of guard- 
ing them with especial care prevents the general adoption of 
this method of preservation. 

In respect to the preservation of paintings the practice has 
varied at different periods. Generally, however, the best 
pictures have been cut from the walls and transferred to the 
Museum, while the decorative framework has been left undis- 
turbed. It is keenly to be regretted that in this way the effect 
of the decorative system as a whole has been destroyed, for 
the picture forms the centre of a carefully elaborated scheme 
of decoration which needs to be viewed as an artistic whole 
in order to be fully appreciated ; and the removal of a 
painting can hardly be accomplished without some damage to 
the parts of the wall immediately in contact with it. A far 
better method would be to leave intact all walls containing 
paintings or decorative work of interest, providing such means 



30 POMPEII 

of protection against the weather as may be necessary. A 
good beginning in this respect has been made in the case 
of the house of the Vettii, the beautiful and well preserved 
paintings of which have been left on the walls and are pre- 
served with the greatest care. 

The treatment of a mosaic floor is an altogether different 
problem. While the floor as a whole, with its ornamental 
designs, is left in place, fine mosaics representing paintings, 
which are delicate and easily destroyed, are wisely taken up 
and placed in the Museum. 



NOTES TO PLAN I 

The Regions are given as they were laid out by Fiorelli (p. 34), the 
boundaries being marked by broken lines. The Insulae are designated by 
Arabic numerals. 

Stabian Street, between Stabian and Vesuvius gates, separating Regions 
VIII, VII, and VI, from I, IX, and V, is often called Cardo, from analogy 
with the cardo inaxiiniis (the north and south line) of a Roman camp. Nola 
Street, leading from the Nola Gate, with its continuations (Strada della 
Fortuna, south of Insulae 10, 12, 13, and 14 of Region VI, and Strada 
della Terme, south of VI, 4. 6, 8), was for similar reasons designated as the 
Greater Decuman, Decuvianus Maior ; while the street running from the 
Water Gate to the Sarno Gate (Via Marina, Abbondanza Street, Strada dei 
Diadumeni) is called the Lesser Decuman, Decionamis Minor. 

The only Regions wholly excavated are VII and VIII ; but only a small 
portion of Region VI remains covered. 

The towers of the city wall are designated by numbers, as they are sup- 
posed to have been at the time of the siege of Sulla, in 89 B.C. (p. 240). 




1 



PLAN I. — OUTLINE PLAN OF POMPEIL 



CHAPTER V 

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 

The outline of Pompeii, with its network of streets, may be 
traced on the accompanying plan. 

The city took its shape from the end of the old lava stream on 
which it lay, which ran southeast from Vesuvius. It formed an 
irregular oval a little less than four fifths of a mile (1200 metres) 
long and a little more than two fifths of a mile (720 metres) wide 
in its greatest dimensions. On three sides, west, south, and east, 
the wall of the city ran along the edge of the hill ; on the north- 
west side, between the Herculaneum and Capua gates, it passed 
directly across the ridge formed by the lava. 

The eight gates are known by the modern names given on our 
plan. Two of them, the Herculaneum and Capua gates, lie at 
the points where the wall comes to the edge of the lava bed on 
either side ; the streets that led from them descended to the 
plain. At the Herculaneum Gate the much travelled highway 
from Naples, passing through Herculaneum, entered the city ; 
the Capua Gate does not seem to have been built to accommo- 
date a large traffic. Between these two lay the Vesuvius Gate, 
through which the Pompeians passed out upon the ridge toward 
Vesuvius. 

From the Herculaneum Gate nearly to the Stabian Gate, 
on the south side, ran a bluff, with a sharp descent. Never- 
theless, as a gate was needed on the side nearest the sea, 
the Water Gate, Porta Marina, was placed here ; through it a 
steep road led to the Forum, so steep that it could not have been 
much used by vehicles ; but that may have mattered little to the 
fishermen bringing their catches to the market. 

The Stabian Gate lay in a depression at the end of the lava 
bed and afforded a more convenient means of access to the city ; 
thence a road ran to the harbor on the Sarno, and to Stabiae. 

31 



32 POMPEII 

At the left another road apparently branched off from this in 
the direction of Nuceria, which could be reached also from the 
conveniently located Nocera Gate further east ; here also the 
slope of the hill was less pronounced. Two gates, finally, gave 
access to the city on the somewhat steeper east and northeast 
sides, the Sarno Gate, which takes its name, not from the river, 
but from the modern town of Sarno, and the Nola Gate ; it is at 
least probable that the road passing through the latter led to 
Nola. 

A glance at the plan will make it plain that the streets of 
Pompeii must have been laid out according to a definite system ; 
an arrangement on the whole so regular and symmetrical would 
scarcely be found in a city that had developed gradually from a 
small beginning, in which the location of streets had been the 
result of accident. 

Two wide streets that cross the city very nearly at right angles 
give the direction for the other streets running approximately 
north and south and east and west, Mercury Street with its con- 
tinuations, and Nola Street. The former probably served as a 
base line in laying out the city ; this we infer from the fact that 
while it is exceptionally broad, and the Forum lies on it, there is 
no gate at either end, and it could have been little used for traffic. 
Nola Street has a gate only at the east end ; the west end opens 
into the Strada Consolare, which follows the line of the city wall 
and leads to the Herculaneum Gate at the northwest corner. That 
the other streets must have taken their direction from these two 
is clearly seen in the case of those in the northwest part of the 
city ; on close examination it will be found that the arrangement 
of the rest also is in accordance with the same system, a fact 
which would perhaps be still more obvious if the unexcavated 
eastern portion of the city were laid bare. 

In two instances, however, there is a deviation from this system. 
One is in the quarter near the Forum. For reasons which have 
not been satisfactorily explained, the Porta Marina was not placed 
on the prolongation of the street coming from the Sarno Gate, 
but further north. In order to reach this gate the street, as shown 
on the plan, makes a bend to the north which is reproduced in 
the other east and west streets lying south of Nola Street ; west 



A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW ^^ 

of the Forum, again, the streets converge in order to give access 
to this gate. 

The other deviation, which affects Stabian Street, can be 
explained on grounds of convenience. This street, which runs 
from the Stabian to the Vesuvius Gate, abandoned the line of 
the north and south streets west of it in order to take advan- 
tage of a natural depression in the hill, by following which an 
easy grade could be estabhshed to the higher parts of the city ; 
that the blocks along this important thoroughfare might not be 
too irregular in shape, the nearest parallel streets on the east were 
laid out in such a way as to follow the direction of Stabian Street. 
The street running south from the Capua Gate resumes, with 
slight variation, the north and south line of Mercury Street. 

The public buildings of the city form two extensive groups. 
One group lies about the Forum (Plan II); with this we may 
reckon the Baths in the first block north, and the temples of 
Fortuna Augusta and Venus Pompeiana. The nucleus of the 
other is formed by the two theatres and the large quadrangular 
colonnade which, designed originally to afford protection for 
theatre-goers against the rain, was later turned into barracks for 
the gladiators (Plan III). There are in addition only four 
public buildings that need to be mentioned. Two are bathing 
establishments, the Stabian Baths, and those at the corner of 
Stabian and Nola streets. The third is a small building near 
the Herculaneum Gate, consisting of a hall opening on the 
street, with a base for a statue near the rear wall ; this on in- 
sufficient grounds has been called a custom-house. The fourth, 
the Amphitheatre, lies in the southern corner of the city. 

As the public buildings were thus located in clearly defined 
groups, it is not probable that many yet remain in the portion of 
the city which has not been excavated. We may expect to find 
only bathing establishments, and perhaps one or two temples. 
There were priestesses of Ceres and of Venus, but the sanctuary 
of Ceres has not been discovered. Mention is made also of a 
priest of Mars ; but the temple of Mars, according to the pre- 
cept of Vitruvius (I. vii. i) would be outside the city. 

A word should be added regarding the modern division of 
Pompeii into Regions, or wards, and Insulae. By an Insula is 



34 POMPEII 

meant — in accordance with ancient usage — a block of houses 
surrounded on all sides by streets. The division into Regions 
was introduced by Fiorelli, and rests upon a misconception which 
has been corrected by more recent excavations. Fiorelli thought 
that the Capua Gate and the Nocera Gate were connected by a 
street, and that the city was thus divided by four streets (the 
assumed street, Stabian Street, Nola Street, and .Abbondanza 
Street with its continuations) into nine Regions, marked on our 
plan with the numerals I-IX. 

In each Region every block, or Insula, has its number, and in 
the Insula a separate number is given to every door opening on 
a street. This arrangement is convenient because each house 
can be accurately designated by means of three numbers. 

On the plans the Insulae are designated by Arabic numerals, 
but in the text small Roman numerals are used for the sake of 
clearness ; thus, Ins. IX. i. 26, means the first Insula of Region 
IX, No. 26. 

The names of several of the more important streets, as of the 
better known houses, are given in the text in the EngHsh form. 



CHAPTER VI 

BUILDING MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, AND 
ARCHITECTURAL PERIODS 

Six centuries lie between the dates of the earhest and the 
latest buildings at Pompeii ; and in order to understand any 
structure rightly we must first of all ascertain to what period 
it belongs. It is indeed rarely possible to fix dates with exact- 
ness for the earHer time ; but certain periods are so clearly dif- 
ferentiated from one another, that in most cases there is no 
room for doubt to which of them a building is to be assigned. 
Before undertaking to characterize these periods, however, it 
will be necessary briefly to notice what building materials were 
used, and how they were turned to account in construction. 

Exclusive of wood, which was more freely used in Pompeii 
than in Campanian towns to-day, the principal building materi- 
als were Sarno limestone, two kinds of tufa (gray and yellow), 
lava, a whitish limestone often called travertine wrongly, marble, 
and brick. 

The Sarno limestone {pietra di Sarno) is a deposit from the 
water of the Sarno, and is found in beds along the course of the 
river. It contains many impressions of the leaves and stems of 
plants, and varies greatly in compactness ; it closely resembles 
the Roman travertine, except that it has a more decided yellow- 
ish tint. 

Gray tufa is a volcanic dust which has been hardened by the 
presence of water into rock. It has a fine grain, and is easily 
worked ; it was quarried in the vicinity of Nocera. The volcanic 
dust which formed the yellow tufa was thrown out in an earlier 
period, when the Sarno plain was still a part of the sea, and so 
hardened in salt water ; it is more friable than the gray tufa, 
and not so durable. 

The lava, which came originally from Vesuvius, was quarried 

35 



36 POMPEII 

at Pompeii. Three varieties may be distinguished, differing in 
density according as they were taken from the lower or the 
upper strata : solid lava, or basalt, which, being heavy and 
extremely hard, was extensively used for pavements and thresh- 
olds ; slag, Hke the scoriae found on the sides of Vesuvius 
to-day ; and cruma, the foam of the lava stream, which is light 
and porous, but on account of its hardness has good resisting 
qualities. 

The whitish limestone has a fine texture, without impres- 
sions of leaves, and is of an even color ; it was to some extent 
employed as a substitute for marble. It was not quarried at 
Pompeii, and was not extensively used ; the most important 
example of its use is in the later colonnade about the Forum. 
The white Carrara marble {marvior lunense) was preferred for 
columns, pilasters, and architraves ; but colored marbles of 
many varieties, cut into thin slabs and blocks, were used ^s a 
veneering for walls and in the mosaic floors. 

Bricks were used only for the corners of buildings, for door- 
posts, and in a few instances, as in the Basilica and the house 
of the Labyrinth, for columns ; brick walls are not found in 
Pompeii. The bricks seen in corners and doorposts (Figs. 1 1, 95) 
are simply a facing for rubble work. They are ordinarily less 
than an inch thick ; they have the shape of a right-angled 
triangle, and are so laid that the side representing the hypothe- 
nuse — about six inches long — appears in the surface of the 
wall. Sometimes fragments of roof tiles, more or less irregular 
in shape, were used instead. The bricks of the earlier time 
contain sea sand and have a granular surface, with a less 
uniform color ; the later bricks are smooth and even in 
appearance. 

The flat oblong roof tiles {tcgulac\ measuring ordinarily 24 by 
19 or 20 inches, had flanges at the sides; over the joints where 
the flanges came together, joint tiles in the form of a half- 
cylinder (imbrices) were laid, like those in use at the present 
day (Figs. 114, 117). 

The styles of masonry are characteristic and interesting. 
We may distinguish them as masonry with Hmestone frame- 
work, rubble work, reticulate work, quasi-reticulate work, ashlar 



CONSTRUCTION 



37 



work, and, in the case of columns and entablatures, massive 
construction. 

The masonry with limestone framework dates from the 
earliest period. The walls were built without mortar, clay 
being used instead. Since this served only as a filling, without 
strength as a binding material, it w^as necessary to arrange the 
stones themselves in such a way that the wall would stand firm. 
This result was accomplished by using large, oblong blocks, not 
only for corners and doorposts, but also for a framework in the 
body of the wall ; as shown in our illustration, alternate vertical 




Fig. 9. — Wall with limestone framework. 



and horizontal blocks were buili up into pillars which would 
hold in place the courses of smaller stones that filled the inter- 
vening spaces. The material of the larger, hewn blocks, as well 
as of the smaller fragments, was Sarno limestone, with occa- 
sional pieces of cruma or slag. 

The rubble work, opJLS incerUim, consists of fragments irregu- 
lar in shape, of the size of the fist and larger, laid in mortar. 
The material used in the earlier times was ordinarily lava ; 
later, Sarno limestone. Corners and doorposts at first were 
built of hewn blocks ; afterwards bricks and blocks of stone cut 
in the form of bricks were used for this purpose, and in the 
latest period frequently brick and stone combined, opus mixUim 



38 POMPEII 

or opus compositiini — a course of stone alternating with every 
two or three courses of brick. An example of the opus fnixtuin 
is seen in the entrances of the Herculaneum Gate (Fig. 113). 
Rubble work is the prevailing masonry at Pompeii ; in compar- 
ison the other kinds described may be considered exceptional. 

The reticulate work, opus reticulatuin, formed the outer sur- 
face of a wall, the inner part of which was built up with rubble. 
It was composed of small four-sided pyramidal blocks, of which 
only the base, cut square and smooth, showed on the surface ; 
the tapering part served as a key to bind the block into the 
wall. These blocks, which measured from three to four inches 
square at the base, Avere laid on their corners, so that the edges 
ran diagonally to the horizontal and vertical lines of the wall; 
the pattern thus formed had the appearance of a net, hence the 
name. The material was in most cases gray, occasionally 
yellow, tufa. The corners and doorposts were at first made of 
the same kind of stone cut in the shape of bricks ; later of 
bricks. This style of masonry was in vogue at Rome, and 
apparently also at Pompeii, in the the time of Augustus (Fig. 
12 ; see also the pedestal in the foreground of Plate I). 

The quasi-reticulate work belongs to the early years of the 
Roman colony. In appearance it lies between rubble and reticu- 
late work, differing from the latter in that the small blocks are 
less carefully finished and are laid with less regularity. The 
material is generally lava, but tufa and limestone are also found. 
The corners and doorposts are of brick, or of brick-shaped 
blocks of tufa or hmestone (Fig. 11). 

Ashlar work, of carefully hewn oblong blocks laid in courses, 
is found in the older portions of the city wall (Fig. 109) and in 
the walls of the Greek temple in the P^orum Triangulare ; it 
was used otherwise only for the fronts of houses (Fig. 10). The 
material in the earliest times was Sarno limestone, later gray 
tufa. With the coming of the Roman colony ashlar work went 
out of use, even for the corners of houses and doorposts. 

In the construction of columns and many architraves large 
blocks were used. Previous to the time of the Roman colony 
these were of gray tufa, or, in rare instances, of limestone ; a 
coating of white stucco was laid on the surface. From the 



ARCHITECTURAL PERIODS 



39 



advent of the colony to the time of the Early Empire, the 
whitish limestone was used ; after that, Carrara marble. 

Bearing in mind the styles of construction just described, we 
may now turn to the architectural history of Pompeii, which, as 
we shall see, falls naturally into six periods. 

The first period is that to which the Doric temple in the 
Forum Triangulare and the city walls belong. From the style 
of the temple, we may safely conclude that it was built in the 
sixth century B.C. ; the evidence is too scanty to enable us 
definitely to fix the date of the 
walls. The building materials 
used were the Sarno limestone 
and gray tufa. 

The second period may be 
designated as the Period of the 
Limestone Atriums, so char- 
acterized from the peculiar 
construction of a number of 
houses found in different parts 
of the city. On the side facing 
the street these houses have 
walls of ashlar work of Sarno 
limestone (Fig. lo), but the 
inner walls are of limestone 
framework (Fig. 9). 

Almost no ornamental forms 
belonging to this period have 
come down to us ; so far only a 
single column has been found, 
built into the wall of a house. 
It is of the Doric style, and 
once formed part of a portico that ran along the west side of 
the small open space at the northwest corner of Stabian and 
Nola streets ; it is thus the sole remnant of a pubhc build- 
ing. In the only complete house that has survived from this 
period, the house of the Surgeon, there was a portico in front 
of the garden, but the roof was supported by square pillars, 
not by columns. There is no trace of wall painting. 




Fig. 10. — P'afade of Sarno limestone, 
house of the Surgeon. 



40 POMPEII 

Characteristic as the construction of the Hmestone atriums is, 
it is difficult to determine to what age they belong. The be- 
ginning of the period cannot be determined even approxi- 
mately. The end, however, is fixed by the earlier limit of the. 
next period, the Second Punic War. We may, therefore, 
assign the houses with the limestone atriums to a period just 
preceding this war; reckoning in round numbers, they were 
built before 200 b.c. 

In the third, or Tufa Period, came the climax of the develop- 
ment of Pompeian architecture prior to the Roman domination. 
The favorite building material was the gray tufa. 

With the exception of the Greek temple mentioned above, 
all the public buildings of Pompeii that do not belong to the 
time of the Roman colony have a homogeneous character ; a 
list of them would include the colonnade about the Forum, the 
Basilica, the temples of Apollo and of Jupiter, the Large 
Theatre with the colonnades of the Forum Triangulare and 
the Barracks of the Gladiators, the Stabian Baths, the Palaestra, 
and the outer part of the Porta Marina with the inner parts 
of the other gates. Closely associated with these pubhc edifices 
is a large number of private houses ; as a specially character- 
istic example, we may mention the house of the Faun. 

All these buildings are similar in style and construction ; 
they evidently date from a period of great building activity. 
It must also have been a period of peace and prosperity; for 
the whole city, from the artistic and monumental point of view, 
underwent a transformation. Certain Oscan inscriptions, an 
early Latin monumental inscription, and a few words, dating 
from y^ b.c, scratched upon the plaster of the Basilica, oblige 
us to place the Tufa Period before the time of the Roman 
colony ; yet not long before, for the next oldest buildings date 
from the first years of the colony. The time of peace that 
furnished the background for the period can only have been 
that between the Second Punic War and the Social War, about 
200 to 90 B.C. ; the Tufa Period was approximately the second 
century before Christ. 

In marked contrast with the Period of the Limestone Atriums, 
the Tufa Period has a pronounced artistic character. It is 



ARCHITECTURAL PERIODS 41 

preeminently a period of monumental construction. Buildings 
and public places are adorned with colonnades of the Doric, 
Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The simple and beautiful forms 
of the Greek architecture are used, sparingly indeed, but 
without petty detail and with evident fear of excessive orna- 
mentation. Columns and architraves are white, with only slight 
suggestion of the earlier Greek polychrome decoration. A 
variety of color, however, is laid on the walls, and with this 
period the history of Pompeian wall decoration begins. 

The Tufa Period coincides throughout with the time of 
the first style of decoration. This, known as the Incrusta- 
tion Style, aimed to imitate in stucco the appearance of a wall 
veneered with colored marbles. Wall paintings are wholly lack- 
ing, but pictures, often of rare beauty, are found in the mosaics 
of the floors. In this period, we may truly say that Pompeian 
architecture was at its best. With it the pure Greek tradition 
dies out ; all the buildings of later times bear the Roman 
stamp. 

The buildings of the Tufa Period are easily recognized by 
the unobtrusiveness of the materials used in their construction. 
The rubble work is mostly of lava ; but gray tufa was used 
exclusively, not only for ashlar work in facades, but also for 
columns and entablatures. The surface of the tufa was coated 
with a layer of fine white stucco, w^hich gave it the appearance 
of marble. The use of marble for building purposes, however, 
is foreign to this period ; and it speaks well for the culture of 
the Oscan Pompeians that they had pleasure in beauty of form 
above richness of material. 

The fourth period covers the earlier decades of the Roman 
colony, from 80 b.c. to near the end of the Republic. Accord- 
ing to inscriptions which are still extant, soon after the year 
80 a wealthy colonist, Gains Ouinctius Valgus, when duumvir 
with Marcus Porcius as colleague, built the Small Theatre, and 
afterwards, when quinquennial duumvir with the same col- 
league, the Amphitheatre also. Both structures have the quasi- 
reticulate facing (Fig. 11); and several other buildings in which 
the same style of masonry is found without doubt belong to 
the same period — the Baths near the Forum, the temple of 



42 



POMPEII 



Zeus Milichius, a building just inside the Porta Marina, and 
apparently the hall at the southeast corner of the Forum, 
which we shall identify as the Comitium ; with these should 
be included also the original temple of Isis, which was destroyed 
by the earthquake of 63 a.d. Few houses dating from this 
period have been discovered ; the provision made by the pre- 
ceding period in this respect had been so generous that new 
houses were not needed. 

From the aesthetic point of view the fourth period falls far 
below that just preceding; the exhaustion of resources and the 
decline of taste due to the long and terrible war are unmistaka- 
ble. Theatre, Amphitheatre, and 
Baths were alike built for imme- 
diate use, with crude and scanty 
ornamentation; and where 
richer ornament was applied, as 
in the case of the temple of Isis, 
it could not for a moment be 
compared with that of the Tufa 
Period in beauty and finish. 

The wall decoration of the 
fourth period is of the second 
Pompeian style, which came into 
vogue just after the founding of 
the colony, and which we shall 
call the Architectural Style ; for 
in part, as the first style, it imi- 
tated a veneering of marble, not however with the help of slabs 
or panels modelled in stucco, but by the use of color only, laid 
on walls finished to a plane surface ; in part it made use of 
architectural designs which were painted either correctly or 
with at least some regard for proper proportions. 

The fifth period extends from the last decades of the Repub- 
lic to the earthquake of the year 63 a.d. In the entire period, 
covering more than a century, we are unable to distinguish a 
series of buildings which may be classed together in style and 
construction as constituting a homogeneous, representative 
group. Here and there we can point out a piece of masonry 




Fig. II. — Quasi-reticulate facing, \vitli 
brick corner, at the entrance of the 
Small Theatre. 



ARCHITECTURAL PERIODS 



43 



which, from its similarity to that of the fourth period, may be 
assigned to the end of the Repubhc ; again, walls with reticu- 
late facing of tufa and corners of brick-shaped blocks of the 
same stone belong to the time of Augustus (Fig. 12), while retic- 
ulate work with corners of brick (Fig. 95) is of later date ; but 
there is a total lack of those distinguishing characteristics which 
would serve to set off by themselves all the buildings belonging 
to a particular time. Consequently in the case of each struc- 
ture it is necessary to take into account all the circumstances, 




Fig. 12. — Reticulate facing, with corners of brick-shaped stone. The filled arch is 
probably to bear the weight of the wall over a sewer. 



and then to form an independent judgment regarding its style 
and date. 

The difficulty is further enhanced by the fact that three styles 
of wall decoration fall within the limits of the same period. 
The Architectural Style, already mentioned, remained in vogue 
to the time of Augustus; it then gave place to the third or 
Ornate Style, which is characterized by a freer use of ornament 
and the introduction of designs and scenes suggestive of an 
Egyptian origin. The fourth or Intricate Style came in about 
the year 50 a.d., and represents, with its involved and fantastic 



44 POMPEII 

designs, the last stage in the development of Pompeian wall 
decoration. In the fifth period marble began to be employed 
as a building material ; the earliest dated example of its use is 
the temple of Fortuna Augusta, erected about 3 b.c. 

The sixteen years between the earthquake of 63 a.d. and the 
destruction of the city form the sixth period in the architectural 
history of Pompeii. The buildings belonging to it can be easily 
recognized, not only from their similarity in style and ornament, 
but also from certain external characteristics, as newness of ap- 
pearance, unfinished condition, and the joining of new to broken 
walls. The only important building wholly new is the large 
bathing establishment, the Central Baths, at the corner of 
Stabian and Nola streets. For the rest, effort seems to have 
been directed toward restoring the ruined buildings as nearly as 
possible to their original condition. The wall decoration 
throughout is of the Intricate Style. 

The measurements of buildings in the Roman Period con- 
form to the scale of the Roman foot, while the dimensions of 
structures antedating the Roman colony in most cases reduce 
to the scale of the Oscan or old Italic foot. The Roman foot 
(296 mm.) may be roughly reckoned at 0.97 of the English foot 
(304.8 mm.); the Oscan foot (275 mm.) is considerably shorter. 
As the Roman standard is of Greek origin, we may perhaps find 
a structure conforming to it that was designed by a Greek 
architect before the Roman Period. 



KEY TO PLAN II 



A. ' 


The Forum. 


G. Commemorative Arch. 


I. 


Pedestal of the statue of Augus- 


H. Temple of Jupiter. 




tus. 


I. Arch of Tiberius. 


2. 


Pedestal of the statue of Claud- 


K. The Provision Market — Ma- 




ius. 


cellum. 


3- 


Pedestal of the statue of Agrip- 


I. Portico. 


4- 


pina. 
Pedestal of the statue of Nero. 


2. Colonnade. 


5- 


Pedestal of the statue of Calig- 


3-3. Market stalls. 



ula. 


4. Market for meat and fish. 


6. 


Pedestals of equestrian statues. 


5. Chapel of the imperial family. 


7. 


Pedestals of standing figures. 


6. Banquet room. 


8. 


Pedestal for three equestrian 
statues. 


7. Round structure with water 
basin — Tholus. 


9- 


Speaker's platform (p. 48). 


8. Pen. 


10. 


Table of standard measures 


L. Sanctuary of the City Lares. 




(p. 92). 


I. Main room, unroofed, with an 


11. 


Room of the supervisor of 


altar in the centre. 




measures. 


2. Apse, with shrine. 


B. ' 


Phe Basilica. 


3. Recesses with pedestals. 


a. 


Entrance court. 


4. Niche opening on the Forum. 


I. 


Corridor. 


M. Temple of Vespasian. 


2. 


Main room. 


I. Colonnade. 


3- 


Tribunal. 


2. Altar. 


4-4. 


Rooms at the ends of the tri- 


3. Cella. 




bunal. 


4. Portico. 


C. The Temple of Apollo. 


N. The Building of Eumachia. 


I. 


Colonnade. 


See plan on p. no. 


2. 


Podium. 




3- 

4- 


Cella. 


0. The Voting Place— Com i- 


Altar. 


tium. 


5- 


Sundial. 


I. Recess opening on the main 



6. Sacristan's room. 
']-']. Rooms made from earlier colon- 
nade. 

D. D'. Market Buildings. 

E. Latrina. 

F. F. City Treasury. 

S. Fountain 



P-R. 

P. 

Q- 
R. 



room. 
Recess opening on the Forum. 

Municipal Buildings. 
Office of the duumvirs. 
Hall of the city council. 
Office of the aediles. 



/ 




fO 20 



Scale of English Feet 

so 

— I 



Scale of Metres 

PLAN II. — THE FORUM WITH THE ADJOINING BUILDINGS. 



PART I 

PUBLIC PLACES AND BUILDINGS 

CHAPTER VII 

THE FORUM 

The Forum is usually approached from the west side by the 
short, steep street leading from the Porta Marina. Entering, 
we find ourselves near the lower end of an oblong open space 
(Plate I), at the upper end of which, toward Vesuvius, stands 
a high platform of masonry with the ruins of a temple — the 
temple of Jupiter ; the remains of a colonnade are seen on 
each of the other three sides. Including the colonnade the 
Forum measures approximately 497 feet in length by 156 in 
breadth; without it the dimensions are 467 and 126 feet. The 
north side, at the left of the temple, is enclosed by a wall in 
which there are two openings, one at the end of the colonnade, 
the other between this and the temple ; at the right the wall 
bounding the open space has been replaced by a stately com- 
memorative arch, while the end of the colonnade is closed by 
a wall with a passageway. Another arch, of much simpler 
construction, stands at the left of the temple, in line with 
the fagade ; it cuts off the area between the temple and the 
colonnade from the rest of the Forum. A third arch once stood 
in a corresponding position at the right. 

The colonnade is nowhere intersected by a street passable for 
vehicles. Even the entrances on the north side form no excep- 
tion. At the left you descend to the area by several steps, at 
the right by one only ; yet here the exclusion of carts and wagons 
was made doubly sure by placing three upright stones in the 
passageway. Only pedestrians could enter the Forum, and 

45 



46 POMPEII 

they, too, could easily be shut out by means of gates in the 
entrances ; the places where the gates swung can still be seen 
in the pavement, and one of them is shown in a painting 
(Fig. i6). No private houses opened on this area; it was 
wholly given up to the public life of the city and was sur- 
rounded by temples, markets, and buildings devoted to the 
civic administration. 

The colonnade was not uniform in character upon all the 
three sides. As will be seen from our plan (Plan II), on the 
south side, and on the adjoining portion of the east side as far 
as Abbondanza Street, it was constructed with two rows of col- 
umns and had a double depth. On the east side north of this 
street the porticos in front of four successive buildings (K, L, 
M, N) took its place. For the greater part of its extent the col- 
onnade was built in two stories, the lower of the Doric, the upper 
of the Ionic order. The upper gallery was made accessible by 
three stairways, at the southeast and southwest corners of the 
Forum and at the middle of the west side ; on the east side it 
did not extend beyond Abbondanza Street. 

The portico in front of the first of the four buildings referred 
to, that of Eumachia, contained a double series of columns, one 
above the other, corresponding in style and dimensions with 
those of the colonnade ; but there was no upper floor running 
back from the intervening entablature. The arrangement in 
front of the fourth building, the Macellum, was similar ; as the 
remains of the porticos in front of the two intervening buildings 
have wholly disappeared, it is impossible to determine their 
character. 

The area of the Forum was paved with rectangular flags of 
whitish limestone. In front of the colonnade, the pavement of 
which was about twenty inches above that of the open space, 
a broad step or ledge projected, covering a gutter for rain 
water ; the water found its way into the gutter through semi- 
circular openings in the outer edge of the step. 

Of the many statues that once adorned the Forum not 
one has been found. As may be seen from the pedestals 
still in place, they were of three kinds, and varied greatly in 
size. 



THE FORUM 47 

First, statues of citizens who had rendered distinguished 
services were placed in front of the colonnade on the ledge 
over the gutter. Four pedestals that once supported statues 
of this sort may be seen on the west side. 

Then equestrian statues of life size were set up in front of the 
ledge, these also in honor of dignitaries of the city (Fig. 17). 
On one of the pedestals the veneering of colored marble is 
still preserved, with an inscription showing that the person 
represented was Quintus Sallustius, " Duumvir, Quinquennial 
Duumvir, Patron of the Colony." 

Finally, on the south side, the life size equestrian statues, 
which seem at the outset to have been arranged symmetrically, 
were almost all removed in order to make room for four much 
larger statues, the pedestals of which still remain (Fig. 53, p. 
122). These must have represented emperors, or members of 
the imperial families. The pedestal in the middle, which is in 
the form of an arch almost square at the base, is much the 
oldest. Upon it was probably placed a colossal statue of 
Augustus. It is incredible that during the long and success- 
ful reign of the first emperor no statue in his honor should 
have been erected in Pompeii; and this is the most suitable 
place. The other three pedestals are similar in construction, 
and clearly belong together. The one at the right (2 on the 
plan) supported a colossal equestrian statue ; that at the left (3) 
a colossal standing figure ; on the third, further forward (4), 
was a smaller equestrian statue. Here stood, then, emperor, 
empress, and crown prince — Claudius, Agrippina, Nero. 

A fifth pedestal, for an equestrian statue of the same size as 
that of Nero, is seen further to the north, in front of the temple 
of Jupiter (5). While unquestionably later than the time of 
Augustus, it must on the other hand be older than the pedestals 
of members of the Claudian family ; for aside from himself, no 
one belonging to Nero's time can be taken into consideration, 
and after his death the Forum lay in ruins in consequence of 
the earthquake of the year 63. Who stood here, however, can 
scarcely be even conjectured. Not necessarily an emperor; the 
younger Drusus, for instance, Tiberius's son, or Germanicus 
might have been thus honored if they had in any way come 



48 POMPEII 

into relation with the Pompeians. But if an emperor, it must 
have been CaUgula; another place was provided for the statue 
of Tiberius. 

In the south side of the arch at the northeast corner of the 
Forum are two niches. It is highly probable that statues of 
the two oldest sons of Germanicus, Nero and Drusus, were 
placed in them ; a fragment of an inscription referring to the 
former was found near by. These became presumptive heirs 
to the throne after the death of Tiberius's son Drusus, in 23 
A.D ; but both afterwards fell victims to the morbid suspicions 
of the emperor and the plots of Sejanus, Nero in 29 a.d., 
Drusus four years later. 

On the top of the arch an equestrian statue of Tiberius prob- 
ably stood. That such a statue was placed here seems clear 
from analogy. North of this arch was another, almost in line 
with it, at the end of Mercury Street where it opens into Nola 
Street ; and here the excavators found fragments of a bronze 
equestrian statue which were put together and set up in the 
Naples Museum. Whether this statue represented Caligula or 
Nero has been a matter of dispute, but the former is really 
excluded from consideration by the short, heavy figure, which is 
better suited to Nero. There is no decided resemblance to 
Nero either; but it is quite possible that, although as crown 
prince he had been honored with a statue in the Forum, the 
Pompeians thought it best to erect for him as emperor a more 
imposing monument. 

Before leaving the area we may raise the question whether it 
contained a speakers' platform, like the Rostra in the Roman 
Forum. If we have reference to a special structure, probably 
not ; no trace of a separate tribunal has been discovered. The 
orator who wished to address the people, however, could mount 
the broad platform in front of the temple of Jupiter, on which 
once an altar stood; before him the audience could gather in 
the open, on the only side of the Forum free from the colon- 
nade. This place well suited the convenience of both speaker 
and hearers. It is possible that we should also identify as a 
tribune the platform in a recess at the southeast corner (p. 120). 

On even a cursory inspection the Forum is seen to lack unity 



THE FORUM 



49 



in the details of its plan and in its architecture ; the fact soon 
becomes apparent that it reached its final form only as the 
result of a long period of development. It will be worth while 
briefly to trace this development, and to note at least the more 
important changes which followed one another in the course of 
the centuries. 

In the earliest times the Forum was merely an open square 
bounded by four streets. 

The proof that this was the original form is in part based 




Fig. 13. — North end of the Forum, with the Temple of Jupiter, restored. 

upon the orientation of the temple of Apollo. The sides of 
this temple have the same direction as the north and south 
streets in the northern part of the city, and must have been 
laid out parallel with a street that once ran between it and 
the Forum. The temple is, therefore, older than the colon- 
nade of the Forum, which shows a marked deviation from the 
line of its axis ; the divergence, as may be seen on our plan, 
was in part concealed by making a difference in the thickness 
of the pillars between the court of the temple and the Forum. 
It is obvious that the colonnade on the west side takes the place 
of an older street ; the south side was probably defined by the 
prolongation of Abbondanza Street toward the southwest. 



50 POMPEII 

Near the southeast corner an inscription was found : V\_tl?i?/s] 
Popidius Ep\_idii~\ f [inns'] quaestor] portiais faciendas coeravit, 
* Vibius Popidius, the son of Epidius, when quaestor caused this 
colonnade to be erected.' No clew to the date is given, but it 
must have been before the coming of the Roman colony, for 
after that time there was no office of quaestor in Pompeii. It 
must also have been before the Social War ; in those years of 
tumult an extensive colonnade would not have been built, and 
when the national spirit was so vehemently asserting itself, we 
should expect to find inscriptions upon public works in the 
Oscan language, certainly not in Latin. But the use of Latin 
may very well date from the latter part of the period of alliance 
with Rome ; we may then with much probability assign the in- 
scription to the second half of the second century B.C. 

Remains of the colonnade of Popidius are still to be seen on 
the south side, and on the adjoining part of the east side, ex- 
tending just across Abbondanza Street ; traces of it are found 
also on the west side, where it was afterward replaced by a new 
structure. On the east side north of Abbondanza Street no traces 
remain ; the appearance of this part of the Forum was entirely 
changed when the four buildings (K, L, M, N) with their por- 
ticos were erected, but we can hardly doubt that the original 
colonnade extended here also. Our illustration (Fig. 14) shows 
the arrangement of the Doric columns in the lower story ; of 
the Ionic columns above only scanty fragments have been 
recovered. The appearance of the whole may be suggested by 
our restoration (Fig. 13). 

In style and construction this colonnade belongs to the Tufa 
Period (p. 40). While the forms are not those of the classical 
period, they nevertheless manifest Greek f eeUng. The low ratio 
in the proportions of the Doric columns, of which the height is 
equal to five diameters, well accords with their use as a support 
for an upper gallery ; elsewhere in pre-Roman Pompeii more 
slender proportions are preferred, even for the Doric style. 
The shaft is v/ell shaped, with a moderate swelling {entasis). 
Only the upper part is fluted ; as the sharp edges of the flutings 
near the bottom might easily be marred, the divisions of the sur- 
face on the lower third of the shaft were left flat. 



THE FORUM 



51 



The architrave is relatively low, the result of an interesting 
peculiarity in the method of construction. Blocks of tufa long 
enough to span the intercolumniations were too weak to sustain 
the weight of the rest of the entablature. To meet this diffi- 
culty a line of thick planks was placed in old Italic fashion above 
the capitals of the columns, and on these were laid short tufa 
blocks. Thus in our illustration (Fig. 14), while the upper of 
the two bands of the architrave is seen to be of stone, the lower 
shows the modern timber suppUed in the place of the ancient. 
That the planks were in reality no thicker than has been 




Fig. 14. — Remnant of the colonnade of Popidius, at the south end of the Forum. 



assumed in the reconstruction is proved beyond question by the 
later colonnade on the west side, which, although entirely of 
stone, corresponds throughout in its proportions with the older 
one ; the architrave is equally narrow, and is likewise divided 
into two parts. 

This explanation is curiously confirmed by an architectural 
painting on the garden wall of one of the finest houses of the 
Tufa Period, the house of the Faun. Here we find pilasters 
and entablature, except the architrave, painted white ; but the 



52 POMPEII 

architrave is painted in two bands, of which the lower is yellow, 
as if to represent wood. Nothing would have been easier than to 
leave the architrave, moulded in stucco, of one color as if it were 
all of one material ; but special effort was made apparently to 
indicate the appearance of a lower division of timber. From 
this we may infer that in actual construction no pains was taken 
to conceal the lack of uniformity in structural materials by lay- 
ing a coat of white or colored stucco over wood and stone alike ; 
on the contrary, the difference was not only recognized in the 
decoration, but even accentuated, as the timber, whether retain- 
ing its original color or painted with a suitable tint, presented a 
marked contrast with the stone the surface of which was cov- 
ered with white stucco. If the strip of timber in the architrave 
had been perceptibly thicker than that of stone above it, the 
effect would not have been good ; as the earlier Greek poly- 
chrome decoration was now no longer in vogue, the stripe of 
color above the capitals made a pleasing variation from the 
prevailing whiteness of the structure. 

The Basilica at the southwest corner and the temple of 
Jupiter both conform to the same variation from the direction 
of the early north and south street that we have noticed in the 
case of the colonnade of Popidius ; they belong, therefore, to 
the same remodeUing of the Forum. It is quite possible that 
the erection of the temple, by limiting the area of the Forum 
on the north side, caused its extension toward the south 
beyond the earlier boundary. Originally the temple was iso- 
lated, the north end of the Forum on either side being left 
open ; later, but still in the time of the Republic, a high 
boundary wall with passageways was built on both sides of it. 
Later still the two arches were erected in a line with its facade ; 
afterwards, in the time of Tiberius, the wall at the right of 
the temple was replaced by the commemorative arch (I), and 
the smaller arch near the fa9ade at the right was removed 
in order that there might be an unimpeded view of the great 
arch from the area. 

The colonnade of Popidius may have stood for more than 
a century ; the necessity of making thoroughgoing repairs no 
doubt became urgent. In the meantime, however, the taste of 



THE FORUM 



53 



the Pompeians had undergone a change, and instead of repair- 
ing the old colonnade they began to replace it by a new one, 
a part of which is shown in Fig. 15. Better material, the 
whitish limestone, was used, and the construction was more 
substantial ; the blocks of the entablature were fitted together 
so as to form a flat arch. Though the new colonnade followed 
closely the proportions of the old, effective details, such as the 
fluting of the columns, and the triglyphs with the guttae under- 




Fig. 15. — Part of the new colonnade, near the southwest corner of the i orum. 



neath, were omitted. The refined sense of form characteristic 
of the earlier time was no longer manifest ; all is coarse and in- 
artistic, the swelling on the shafts of the columns, for example, 
being carried too high. 

The new colonnade had a second story of the Ionic order, of 
the columns of which (though not of the entablature) consider- 
able fragments have been found. The stylobate on which the 
columns rested was renewed in limestone, and about the same 
time the Forum was paved and the ledge over the gutter was 
laid with flags of the same material. 



54 POMPEII 

This second remodelling of the Forum commenced in the 
early years of the Empire, the pavement having been laid 
before the pedestal of the monmnent to Augustus was built. 
It was never carried to completion. On the west side the 
new colonnade was almost finished when the earthquake of 
the year 63 threw it nearly all down. At the time of the 
eruption only the columns at the south end of this side, which 
had safely passed through the earthquake, were still stand- 
ing with their entablature; they are shown in Fig. 15. The 
area was then strewn with blocks, which the stonecutters were 
engaged in making ready for the rebuilding. 

The Forum of Pompeii, as of other ancient cities, was first 
of all a market place. Early in the morning the country folk 
gathered here with the products of the farm ; here all day long 
tradespeople of every sort exhibited their wares. In later 
times the pressure of business led to the erection of separate 
buildings around the Forum to relieve the congestion ; such 
were the Macellum, used as a provision market ; the Eumachia 
building, erected to accommodate the clothing trade ; the Basilica 
and the market house west of the temple of Jupiter, devoted 
to other branches of trade. Yet in a literal sense the Forum 
always remained the business centre of the city. 

It served, too, as the favorite promenade and lounging place, 
where men met to discuss matters of mutual interest, or to 
indulge in gossip. Here idlers loitered and plied busier men 
with questions regarding public affairs, makers and dealers 
came together to talk over and settle points of difference, and 
young people pursued their romantic adventures. He can best 
form an idea of this bustling, ceaseless, varied activity who 
knows what the piazza means in the life of a modern Italian 
city, and stops to consider how much has been taken from the 
life of the piazza by the cafes and similar places of resort ; 
modern squares, moreover, are usually not provided, as were the 
ancient, with inviting colonnades, affording protection against 
both sun and rain. 

The life of the Forum seemed so interesting to one of the 
citizens of Pompeii that he devoted to the portrayal of it 
a series of paintings on the walls of a room. The pictures are 



THE FORUM 



55 



light and sketchy, but they give a vivid representation of 
ancient life in a small city. First, in front of the equestrian 
statues near the colonnade we see dealers of every kind and 
description. There sits a seller of copper vessels and iron 
utensils (Fig. i6), so lost in thought that a friend is calling 
his attention to a possible purchaser who is just coming up. 
Next come two shoemakers, one waiting on women, another 
on men ; then two cloth dealers. Further on a man is selling 
portions of warm food from a kettle ; then we see a woman 
with fruit and vegetables, and a man selling bread. Another 




Fig. i6. — Scene in the Forum. 

In the foreground, at the left, dealer in utensils ; at the right, shoemaker waiting on four 

ladies. Wall painting. 



dealer in utensils is engaged in eager bargaining, while his son, 
squatting on the ground, mends a pot. 

The scenes now change. A man sitting with a writing tablet 
and stylus listens closely to the words of another who stands 
near by ; he reminds us of the scribes who, under the portico of 
the theatre of San Carlo, at Naples, write letters for those that 
have been denied the privilege of an education. 

Then come men wearing tunics, engaged in some transaction, 
in the course of which they seem to pass judgment on the con- 
tents of bottles which they hold in their hands ; their business 
perhaps involves the testing of wine. Beyond these, some men 
are taking a walk ; a woman is giving alms to a beggar ; and 



56 



POMPEII 



two children play hide and seek around a column. The follow- 
ing scene is not easy to understand, but apparently has reference 
to some legal process ; a woman leads a little girl with a small 

tablet before her 
breast into the pres- 
ence of two seated 
men who wear the 
toga. 

In the next scene 
(Fig. 17) four men 
are reading a notice 
posted on a long 
board, which is fast- 
ened to the pedes- 
tals of three eques- 
trian statues. The 
sketchy character of 
the painting is espe- 
cially obvious in the 
representations of 
the horses, which 
are nevertheless life- 
like. It is also inter- 
esting to note that 
the heads of the men 
in these scenes are 
uncovered ; in stormy weather pointed hoods (shown in a tavern 
scene, Fig. 234) were sometimes worn. The festoons suggest a 
trimming of the colonnade for some festal occasion. 

The last scene is from school life. A pupil is to receive 
a flogging. He is mounted on the back of one of his school- 
mates, while another holds him by the legs; a slave is about 
to lay on the lash, and the teacher stands near by with an air 
of composure. It would not be safe to infer from this, how- 
ever, that there was a school in the Forum ; the columns in 
this scene are different from those in the others and are further 
apart. Possibly a part of the small portico north of the court 
of the temple of Apollo was at one time let to a schoolmaster. 




lig. 17. — Scene in the Forum. 
Citizens reading a public notice. Wall painting 



THE FORUM 57 

The most important religious festivals were celebrated in the 
Forum. Here naturally festal honors were paid to the highest 
of the gods — the whole area enclosed by the colonnade was 
the court of his temple ; but we learn from an inscription, men- 
tioned below, that celebrations were held here in honor of 
Apollo also, whose temple adjoined the Forum, and was at first 
even more closely connected with it than in later times. 

Vitruvius informs us that in Greek towns the market place, 
agora, was laid out in the form of a square (a statement which 
is not confirmed by modern excavations), but that in the cities 
of Italy, on account of the gladiatorial combats, the Forum 
should have an oblong shape, the breadth being two thirds of 
the length. The purpose in giving a lengthened form to the 
Forum, as also to the Amphitheatre, was no doubt to secure, 
at the middle of the sides, a greater number of good seats, 
from which a spectacle could be witnessed. In the Pompeian 
Forum, as may be seen from the dimensions given at the 
beginning of this chapter, the breadth is less than one third 
of the length. However, there can be Httle doubt that gladi- 
atorial exhibitions were frequently held there before the build- 
ing of the Amphitheatre, which dates from the earlier years 
of the Roman colony. After this time the Forum was still 
used for games and contests of a less dangerous character. 
The epitaph of a certain A. Clodius Flaccus, which is now lost, 
but was copied by a scholar in the seventeenth century, tells us 
at length how in his first, and again in his second, duumvirate 
(he was duumvir for the third time in 3 B.C.), in connection with 
the festival of Apollo, he not only gave gladiatorial exhibitions 
in the Amphitheatre, but also provided bullfights and other 
spectacles, as well as musical entertainments and pantomimes, 
in the Forum. 

Speaking of the Forum as a place for gladiatorial combats, 
Vitruvius adds that the spaces between the columns should 
be wide, — that the view of spectators might be as little as 
possible impeded, — and that the upper story of the colonnade 
should be arranged with reference to the collection of an admis- 
sion fee. The latter suggestion is of special interest. As we 
know from other sources, at public games certain places were 



58 POMPEII 

reserved for the officials and for the friends of him who gave 
the spectacle ; others were free to the public, while for still 
others an admission fee was charged. If the exhibition was 
held in a market place, with lower and upper colonnades, the 
former would be open to the people ; the latter in part reserved, 
in part accessible on payment of the price of admission. 

It would be interesting to know whether on such occasions at 
Pompeii the gates of the Forum itself were shut, so that admis- 
sion even to the free space could be regulated ; perhaps they 
were in earher times when, as at Rome, slaves were forbidden 
to witness the games. However, Cicero speaks of this time- 
honored regulation as in his day already a thing of the past ; 
and so in Roman Pompeii the gates of the Forum may have 
remained open even on the days of the games. Their most 
important use was probably in connection with the voting. 

The Forum had a part also in spectacles which were not 
presented there. We are safe in assuming that, at least in the 
earlier times, whenever a gladiatorial combat was given in the 
Amphitheatre, or a play in the Theatre, the city officials, includ- 
ing especially the official providing the entertainment, formed 
in procession with their retinue and proceeded in festal attire 
to the place of amusement. These processions could scarcely 
have formed anywhere else than in the Forum, and thence they 
must have started out. 

The fact that the Forum was not accessible for vehicles sug- 
gests a significant point of difference between the festal proces- 
sions of the colony and those of the capital. In the latter, 
vehicles had a prominent place. Thus at Rome the official who 
gave the games in the Circus entered the edifice with his retinue 
in chariots in the imposing circus parade, ponipa circeiisis, and a 
similar usage prevailed in the case of other processions ; priests, 
too, and priestesses were on many occasions allowed to ride. 
But even in Rome carriages were always considered a matter 
of luxury ; and the municipal regulations promulgated by 
Caesar prohibited the use of vehicles, except those required 
for religious and civic processions, on the streets of the city 
from sunrise till the tenth hour, that is, till four o'clock in the 
afternoon. 



THE FORUM 59 

In Pompeii, and without doubt also in other cities of Italy 
and the provinces, the closing of the Forum to vehicles made 
it necessary that religious and other processions should proceed 
on foot. We have no evidence of any exception to this rule. 
We ought perhaps to recognize in it one of those devices by 
means of which Rome maintained a position of dignified supe- 
riority over the provincial towns ; to her processions was allowed 
an elem.ent of display which to theirs was denied. It was not 
permitted to name the two chief executive officers of a munici- 
pality consuls, though their functions, within limits, corresponded 
with those of the consuls at Rome ; nor could the city council 
be called a senate, though the Roman writers did not hesitate 
to apply this term to corresponding bodies in states and cities 
outside of Rome's jurisdiction. For like reasons, it would seem 
that on pubHc occasions officials and priests of a provincial 
town were not permitted, as were those in Rome, to ride. Was 
this humiliating restriction laid upon the Pompeians when the 
Roman colony came, or previously when the city was in name 
the ally of Rome, but in reality already subject.-^ The evidence 
is almost conclusive for the latter alternative ; for the colonnade 
of Popidius, which as we have seen was erected in the period 
of autonomy, left no entrance for vehicles, though in other 
ways it added greatly to the attractiveness and convenience of 
the Forum as a place for civic and religious celebrations. 

No record of events has survived to help us form a picture 
of the Forum as the seat of deliberative and judicial functions, 
the centre of the city's political life ; yet stirring scenes present 
themselves to the imagination as we recall the critical periods 
in the history of the city. 

In the Forum, about 400 B.C., the valiant Samnite moun- 
taineers, having taken the city by storm, assembled and estab- 
Hshed their civic organization ; here, in later times, without 
doubt amid conflicts similar to those at Rome, the polity was 
put to the test and underwent transformation. Fierce enough 
the strifes may have been during the Samnite wars, and again 
in the time of Hannibal, — after the battle of Cannae, — when 
the aristocrats who favored Rome contended with the national 
party for the mastery. Here, on the platform in front of the 



6o POMPEII 

temple of Jupiter, the leaders of the national party stood in 
90 B.C., and with flaming words roused the people to revolt, to 
join the movement which, starting in Asculum, had spread like 
wildfire over Southern Italy. 

Then ten years of bloody war, — siege, campaigns, surrender, 
— and again the scene changes. Roman soldiers stand thick 
in serried ranks upon the area. They are the veterans of 
Sulla. An officer bearing a civil commission, the nephew of 
the Dictator, appears before them. Standing in front of the 
temple of Jupiter, he makes a proclamation regarding the found- 
ing and administration of the colony. The citizens crowd back 
timidly into the colonnade. Many of the best of the Pompeians 
have fallen in battle ; of the rest, a part at least will be dispos- 
sessed of house and home to make room for the intruders, 
whose arrogance they will be compelled submissively to endure. 

This is the last tragic act in the Pompeian Forum. After 
this time, there will be disputes regarding the rights of the old 
residents and the colonists, public questions of many kinds will 
call for settlement ; the elections will come each year, and the 
ardent southern temperament may assert itself in violent 
scenes. Yet all these disturbances will be only as the ripples 
on the surface ; the depths wdll remain undisturbed. The life 
of Pompeii has become an integral part of the life of the Roman 
world. 



CHAPTER VIII 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE BUILDINGS ABOUT THE FORUM 
— THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 

The Forum was to the ancient city what the atrium was to 
the early Italic house ; it was used for every purpose for which 
a special place was not provided elsewhere. And as sleeping 
rooms, dining rooms, and storerooms were grouped about the 
atrium and opened into it, so around the Forum lay the edifices 
which served the requirements of the public life, — the most 
important temples, the municipal buildings, and market houses 
or exchanges for different branches of business. 

Three temples adjoined the Forum at Pompeii. In addition, 
there was a sanctuary of the City Lares ; and the temples of 
Venus Pompeiana and Fortuna Augusta were but a short dis- 
tance away. These religious edifices are representative of the 
different periods in the history of the city. 

In very early times the Oscans of Pompeii received from 
the Greeks who had settled on the coast the cult of Apollo, 
and built for the Hellenic god a large, fine temple (C, in Plan 
II) adjoining the Forum on the west side. 

Several centuries later, the divinities of the Capitol — Jupiter, 
Juno, and Minerva — were enthroned in the temple that on the 
north side towered above the area (H). 

On the east or right side followed, in Roman times, the 
edifices erected for the worship of the emperors. The oldest 
is the unroofed building, with a broad, open front, dedicated 
to the Lares of the City and to the Genius of Augustus (L). 
Further north, in the first block at the right beyond the Forum, 
is the temple of Fortuna Augusta, the goddess who guarded 
the fortunes of Augustus, erected in 3 B.C. A chapel for the 
worship of Claudius and his family was placed in the Macellum 

61 



62 POMPEII 

(K, 5); this seems to have sufificed also for the worship of 
Nero. After Nero's death and after the brief Civil War, 
a temple (M) was built close to the shrine of the Lares in 
honor of Vespasian, the restorer of peace, the new Augustus. 
This was the last temple erected in Pompeii ; it was not en- 
tirely finished at the time of the eruption. 

Three buildings at the south end of the Forum were used 
for city offices (P-R). They were much alike, each containing 
a single large hall. They were seemingly built in the early 
years of the Empire, and repaired after the earthquake of the 
year 63. There is also a structure at the southeast corner, 
south of Abbondanza Street, which we may identify as the 
voting place, the Comitium (O). At the northwest corner 
was apparently the city treasury, built in the latest years of 
Pompeii, perhaps on the site of an earlier structure of the 
same kind (F). 

At a comparatively early period the area was found to be 
too small for the increasing volume of business; and the 
demand for roofed space made itself felt. In the second 
century B.C. the large and splendid Basilica (B), serving the 
double purpose of a court and an exchange, was built at the 
southwest corner. 

Diagonally opposite, near the temple of Jupiter, a provision 
market, the Macellum (K), was constructed; this also at an 
early date. It was entirely rebuilt in the time of the Empire, 
perhaps in the reign of Claudius. Previous to this rebuilding, 
the priestess Eumachia had erected an exchange for the fullers 
on the same side of the Forum, further south (N). 

On the west side, from pre-Roman times, stood a small 
colonnade in two stories, with its rear against the rear of 
the colonnade on the north side of the court of the temple of 
Apollo ; only the first story, of the Doric order, has been pre- 
served. Probably this structure and the small open space in 
front were at first used as a market; later, in the imperial 
period, shops (D') were built upon the open space, and the 
colonnade was made over into closed rooms, the purpose of 
which, except in the case of one, is unknown (6, 7, 7). In the 
last years of the city, a large market building (D) was erected 



THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 



63 



between this small place and the Forum. It was connected 
both with the city treasury and with a latrina. 



The temple of Jupiter dominates the Forum, and more than 
any other structure gives it character. As we have seen, its 
orientation accords with that of the colonnade of Popidius. It 
probably dates from the pre-Roman period, the columns being 
of tufa covered with white stucco. The earthquake of the year 
63 left the temple in ruins, and at the time of the eruption the 
work of rebuilding had not yet commenced. In the meantime, 
it was used as a workshop for stonecutters. The journal of 
the excavations reports the finding here of the torso of a colos- 
sal statue out of which a smaller statue was being carved. A 
place for the worship of the divinities of the temple must tem- 
porarily have been provided elsewhere. 

The temple stands on a podium 10 Roman feet high, and 
including the steps, 125 Roman feet long (Fig. 18). Very 
nearly a half of the whole length is given 
to the cella ; of the other half, a little 
more than two thirds is occupied by the por- 
tico, leaving about a third (20 Roman feet) 
for the steps. The pediment was sustained by 
six Corinthian columns about 28 feet high. 
This arrangement — a deep portico in front 
of the cella — is Etruscan, though the canon 
of Vitruvius, that in Etruscan temples the 
depth of the portico should equal that of the 
cella, is violated. The high podium also, 
with steps in front, is characteristic of Etrus- 
can, or at least of early Italic religious architecture. On the 
other hand, the architectural forms of the superstructure are 
Greek, and these in turn have had their influence upon the 
plan ; the intercolumniations are not wide, as in the Tuscan 
style with its wooden architrave, but narrower, as in the Greek 
orders. Vitruvius speaks of temples such as this, in which 
Greek and Etruscan elements are united, at the end of his 
directions for the building of temples ; they are a development 
of Roman architecture. 




Fig. 18. — Plan of the 
temple of Jupiter. 

1. Speaker's platform. 

2. Portico. 

3. Cella. 



64 POMPEII 

The arrangement of the steps is pecuhar. Above is a series 
of long steps reaching nearly across the front (Fig. 19); below 
are two narrow flights near the sides, and between them is the 
projecting front of the podium, used as a tribune, which has 
already been mentioned (p. 48). 

That an altar stood at the middle of this platform is proved 
by a relief with a representation of the north side of the 
Forum, found on the base of a chapel of the Lares in the 
house of the wealthy Pompeian, L. Caecilius Jucundus. At 
the left we see the arch near the fagade and a strip of wall 
connecting it with the temple ; next a corner of the platform 
with an equestrian statue ; then a flight of steps, and the 





n 
i 




1. ~ . ■ ■ •-. ^^--'-^s^- -Jl 



J-ig. iM.— klllll-^ (il ilic Irniple of lupittT. 

front of the platform with an altar at the middle ; finally the 
other flight of steps and another equestrian statue in a posi- 
tion corresponding with that of the first. The columns shown 
in the relief do not agree in number or style with those of the 
fagade of the temple, but such inaccuracies are common in 
ancient representations of buildings, and there can be no doubt 
that the temple of Jupiter is represented ; the reHef has, in 
fact, been used in making our restoration of the arch at the left 
(Fig. 13). 

Both the portico and the cella no doubt had a coffered ceil- 
ing. Just in front of the doorway, which was fifteen Roman 
feet wide, are the large stones with holes for the pivots on 
which the massive double doors swung (indicated in Fig. 18); the 



THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 



65 



doors here were not placed in the doorway, but in front of it, 
and were besides somewhat larger, so that the effect was ren- 
dered more imposing when they were shut. 

The ornamentation of the cella was especially rich. A row of 
Ionic columns, about fifteen feet high, stood in front of each of 
the longer sides ; the entablature above them probably served as 
a base for a similar row of Corinthian columns, the- entablature 
of which in turn supported the ceiling. On the intermediate 
entablature, between the columns of the upper series, statues and 
votive offerings were doubtless placed. The floor about the sides 
was covered with white mosaic, of which scanty remains have 
been found ; the marble pavement 
of the centre (inside of the dotted line. 
Fig. 18) has wholly disappeared. 

A section of the wall decoration, in 
the second Pompeian style, is shown 
in Fig. 20. We notice here the char- 
acteristic elements — imitation of mar- 
ble veneering, with large red central 
panels and a cornice above. The base 
with its simple dividing Hues upon a 
black ground was painted over in the 
third style; originally it must have 
been more suggestive of real construc- 
tion, with a narrow painted border 
along the upper edge. 

Against the rear wall of the cella 
stands a large pedestal, three times 
as long as it is broad. It was origi- 
nally divided by four pilasters — two 
at the corners and two on the front 
between them — into three parts. 
Later the pilasters and the entabla- 
ture over them were removed, and the 
whole was covered with marble veneering. Inside were three 
small rooms, entered by separate doors from the cella. The 
pedestal was thus built for three images ; three divinities were 
worshipped here, and in the little chambers underneath were 




Fig. 20. — Section of the wall 
decoration in the cella of the 
temple of Jupiter. 



66 POMPEII 

perhaps kept the trappings with which on festal occasions the 
images were decked. 

A head of Jupiter, of which we shall speak later, was found 
in the cella, as was also an inscription of the year 37 a.d., con- 
taining a dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the ruhng deity 
of the Capitol at Rome. It is thus proved beyond question that 
the Capitoline Jupiter was worshipped here ; and it will not be 
difficult to ascertain what other divinities shared with him the 
honors of the temple. 

As the Roman colonies strove in all things to be Rome in 
miniature, each thought it necessary to have a Capitolium — a 
temple for the worship of the gods of the Roman Capitol, Jupi- 
ter, Juno, and Minerva ; and this naturally became the most 
important temple in the city. That the worship of the three 
divinities was established at Pompeii is evident from the discov- 
ery of three images representing them, in the little temple con- 
jecturally assigned to Zeus Milichius. These are poor images 
of terra cotta, and the temple itself was altogether unworthy to 
be a place of worship for the great gods that shaped the desti- 
nies of Rome. We are warranted in the conclusion that the 
temple of Zeus Mihchius was used temporarily for the worship 
of the three divinities of the large temple till the latter could be 
rebuilt ; and that Juno and Minerva stood on the great pedestal 
beside the king of the gods. 

It seems strange that the Pompeians should have erected a 
temple to the gods of the Capitol in the pre-Roman period. It 
must be remembered, however, that the worship of the three 
divinities was by no means limited to Rome and her colonies. 
The Etruscans, as Servius informs us in his commentary on 
Virgil, thought that a city was not properly founded unless it 
contained sanctuaries of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Vitruvius, 
also, in his directions for laying out a city, makes the general 
statement that the most prominent site should be set aside for the 
temples of the same divinities. If we consider further that 
the opposition of the Italians to Rome found expression only in 
the Social War, and that previously they had looked upon the 
attainment of Roman citizenship as the highest object of ambi- 
tion, the gradual adoption of Roman customs at Pompeii and 



THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 67 

the erection of a temple to the Capitohne divinities are seen 
to be less remarkable. The building of such a temple was a 
natural expression of political aspirations ; it was in complete 
harmony with the use of Latin in the inscription of Popidius 
(p. 50). 

There is, however, another possibility that may be stated. 
The remodelling of the Forum was certainly commenced in the 
pre-Roman period ; but it is not impossible that the work was 
interrupted by the breaking out of the Social War and that the 
colonists completed it, dedicating the temple to the gods of the 
Capitol. The use of several brick-shaped blocks of stone, — 
such blocks are not found in other buildings of the pre-Roman 
time, — the lack of any trace of the wall decoration of the first 
style, the form of the egg-and-dart moulding on the capitals of 
the Ionic columns in the cella, and the correspondence of cer- 
tain dimensions with the Roman scale of measurements may be 
alleged in favor of this hypothesis. The evidence at present 
does not warrant a positive decision against it. 

The fact that we have here a Capitolium may explain the 
special prominence of the altar in front, which might just as 
well have been placed in the area of the Forum at the foot of 
the steps. In Rome the Capitol lay upon a summit of a hill ; 
perhaps the aim in this case was to place not only the temple 
but also the altar upon an elevation so that here, as there, the 
priest should go up to offer sacrifice. 

The podium of the temple contains vaulted rooms which can 
be entered from the Forum through a narrow door on the east 
side. Their use is unknown. We are reminded of the temple 
of Saturn in the Forum at Rome, the podium of which served 
as a treasury, acrarinni. The vaults, favissae, may have been 
used as a place of safe keeping for treasure, or for furniture of 
the temple, or for discarded votive offerings. 

The beautiful head of Jupiter found in the cella deserves more 
than a passing mention. In order to appreciate its character 
we may view it in contrast with the Otricoli Zeus, with which 
it is closely related. In both heads we feel the lack of that 
majestic simplicity, that ineffable and godhke calm, which rested 



6S 



POMPEII 



on the features of the Zeus of Phidias. Here man has much 
more obviously made God in his own image ; the face shows 
less of the ideal, with more of human energy and passion. 

It is not for us to decide whether the Otricoli mask is from the 
school of Praxiteles, or shows more of the influence of Lysippus ; 
it is sufficient here to notice that the type was developed in the 

second half of the 
fourth century B.C., 
the century after Phid- 
ias. The similarity 
between these two ex- 
amples of the type 
is apparent at first 
glance. The shape of 
the two heads is, in 
general, the same, and 
there is the same pro- 
fusion of hair and 
beard, symbolic of 
power ; but the differ- 
ences in detail are 
striking. 

In the Otricoli Zeus 
the peculiar shape of 
the forehead — promi- 
nent in the middle up 
to the roots of the hair 
and retreating at the 
sides — seems to sug- 
gest, not so much the 
power of a world-encompassing and lofty intellect, as absorp- 
tion in great, unfathomable thoughts. In the lines of the 
massive face irresistible force of will is revealed, and the capa- 
bility of fierce passion lurks beneath the projecting lower part of 
the forehead and uneven eyebrows, threatening like a thunder- 
cloud. But for the moment all is deep repose, and the lids seem 
partly closed over eyes that look downwards, as if not concerned 
with seeing. The sculptor has conceived of Zeus as the occult 




Fig. 21. — Bust of Zeus from Otricoli, now in the Vatican 
Museum. After Tafel 130 of the Brunn-Bruckmann 
Denkmaeler. 



THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 



69 



power of nature, alike the origin and law of all things, or as the 
personification of the heavens veiled by impenetrable mists. 

Great force of will is seen also in the face of the Pompeian 
god ; but it is will dominated by alert and all-embracing mind. 
The forehead expands in a broad arch ; the eyes, wide open, 
look out with full vision under sharply cut brows. Here we 
have no secret brood- 
ing; a powerful yet 
clearly defined and 
comprehensible per- 
sonality is stamped 
upon features carved 
in bold, free lines. 
And this personality 
is not lost in mystical 
self -contemplation ; 
the god is following 
with closest attention 
the course of events 
in some far distant 
place, affairs that in 
the next moment may 
require his interven- 
tion ; excitement and 
expectancy are seen 
in the raised upper 
lip. The ideal of this 
artist was the wise 
and powerful king, 
whose watchful and all-protecting eye sees to the furthest limits 
of his kingdom. Surely this variation of the Otricoli type must 
have been conceived in a monarchical period, the period when 
the Greek world was ruled by the successors of Alexander. 

The Pompeian god is more a sovereign ; the Zeus of Otricoli 
is more poetic, more divine. 




Fig. 22. 



Bust of Jupiter, found at Pompeii. 
Naples Museum. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE BASILICA 

The Basilica, at the southwest corner of the Forum, was the 
most magaificent and architecturally the most interesting build- 
ing at Pompeii. Its construction and decoration point to the 
pre-Roman time ; and there is also an inscription scratched on 
the stucco of the wall, dating from almost the beginning of the 
Roman colony : C. Piiinidius Dipilus Jieic fuit a. d. v. iioiias 
Octobreis M. Lepid. Q. Catiil. cos., — ' C. Pumidius Dipilus was 
here on the fifth day before the nones of October in the consul- 
ship of Marcus Lepidus and Quintus Catulus,' that is October 
3, -j^ B.C. 

The purpose of the building is clearly indicated not only by 
its plan and the details of its arrangement but also by the word 
Bassilica scratched a number of times by idlers on the stucco of 
the outer wall at the right of the south entrance. This sure 
identification lends to the edifice a special significance ; it is with- 
out doubt the oldest example that we have of an important 
architectural type whose origin is lost in obscurity, but of which 
the derivative forms may still be recognized in the architecture of 
to-day. What the temple developed by the Greeks was to pagan 
antiquity, that the basiHca became to the Christian Church — a 
type dominating a system of rehgious architecture. Pagan 
worship was individual, — a narrow chamber sufficed for the 
image of the god and the requirements of religious service ; but 
Christian worship was social, and its functions demanded a 
larger room, in which a congregation could be assembled. 
The religious architecture of the Church therefore broke with 
the religious architecture of pagan antiquity, and turned for its 
model to the basilica. 

Our knowledge of the history of the basiHca begins with the 
erection of the Basilica Porcia in Rome by Cato the Elder, in 

70 



THE BASILICA 71 

184 B.C. ; other basilicas followed, and in Caesar's day a number 
stood about the Forum. Regarding its development prior to 
the time of Cato only conjectures can be offered. The name 
basilica {basilike stoa, 'the royal hall') points to a Greek 
origin ; we should naturally look for the prototype of the Roman 
as well as the Pompeian structure in the capitals of the Alexan- 
drian period and in the Greek colonies of Italy. But no ruin, 
no reference in literature comes to our aid. The supposition 
that the King's Hall {basileios stoa) in Athens, the official resi- 
dence of the King Archon, was the prototype of all basilicas, 
has little to support it ; our information in regard to the form of 
this building is quite inadequate, and the name alone warrants 
no positive conclusion. It is more probable that both the name 
and the architectural type came from the ' royal hall ' of one of 
the successors of Alexander. 

A basilica was a spacious hall which served as an extension 
of a market place, and was itself in a certain sense a covered 
market. It was not limited to a specific purpose ; in general, 
whatever took place on the market square might take place in 
the basilica, the roof of which afforded protection against the 
weather. It was chiefly devoted, however, to business transac- 
tions and to the administration of justice. The form is known 
partly from the remains of the basilicas in Rome — Basilica 
Julia, Basilica Ulpia, the Basilica of Constantine — and in 
Africa, but more fully from the treatise of Vitruvius and the 
description of a basilica which he himself erected at Fano. 

According to these sources 
the plan of a typical basilica 
is essentially that of the build- 
ing before us (Fig. 23). An 
oblong space is divided by col- 
umns into a broad central hall 
and a corridor which runs 

around the four sides. The 2- ^lainroom. 3. Tribunal. 

. . 4. Rooms at the ends of the tribunal. 

height of the columns, \\\ the 

typical basilica, is equal to the width of the corridor, which is 
covered by a flat roof ; the inner edge of this roof is carried 
by the entablature above the columns. The main room is 



Fig. 23. — Plan of the Basilica. 
. Entrance court. i. Corridor. 



72 POMPEII 

higher than the corridor. Above the entablature is a low wall 
on which there is a second row of columns ; these carry the 
main roof and form a clerestory, the light being admitted 
through the intercolumniations. 

The main hall and the corridor were devoted to trade; the 
dealers perhaps occupied the former, while in the latter the 
throng of purchasers and idlers moved freely about. The place 
set aside for the administration of justice, the tribunal, was 
ordinarily an apse projecting from the rear end. In our Basil- 
ica, however, — and in some others as well, — it was a smiall 
oblong elevated room back of the central hall, toward which it 
opened in its whole length. 

This ideal plan would answer very well for that of the early 
Christian basilicas, excepting in one respect ; instead of a cor- 
ridor on all four sides they have only aisles parallel with the 
nave, an arrangement which had already been adopted in some 
basilicas designed for markets. The Christian basilicas would 
give us a still truer idea of the arrangement and lighting of the 
pagan prototype if in most cases a part of the numerous win- 
dows had not been walled up, thus producing a dimness in keep- 
ing with a religious but not a secular edifice. 

In pagan structures the ideal plan was by no means strict'}- 
followed. Vitruvius himself at Fano, and the architects of 
other basilicas the remains of which have been discovered, c.'.d 
not hesitate to depart from it. So the Basilica at Pompeii, as 
we shall see, presents a modification of the general plan in an 
important particular, the admission of light ; and this deviation 
was carried out with finer artistic feeling than was displayed by 
Vitruvius in his building. 

Our Basilica is undoubtedly of later date than the Basihca 
Porcia, but the Pompeians, who at the time when it was built 
were pupils of the Greeks in matters of art, found their model 
not in Rome but in a Greek city, perhaps Naples. 

Five entrances, separated by tufa pillars, lead from the colon- 
nade of the Forum into the east end of the basilica. First comes 
a narrow entrance court (a), extending across the entire build- 
ing and open to the sky. On the walls, as also on the outside 
of the building, are remains of a simple stucco decoration ; 



THE BASILICA 



73 



below, a yellow base with a projecting red border along the 
upper edge ; above, a plain white surface. At the left outside 
the entrance court is a cistern for rain water collected from the 
roof ; the stairway close by (shown on the plan) had nothing to 
do with the Basilica, but was connected with the upper gallery 
of the colonnade about the Forum, 

Mounting four steps of basalt we pass from the narrow court 
into the building. The five entrances here are separated by 
four columns. Those next to the two sides on the right and on 




A'iew of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal. 



the left were closed by a wall in which was a wide doorway ; the 
three at the middle were left as open intercolumniations. The 
enclosed space before us measures i8o^ English feet (200 Oscan 
feet) in length, /Sf feet in breadth. Twenty-eight massive brick 
columns, 4 Oscan feet in diameter, separate the great cen- 
tral hall from the broad corridor running about it ; only the 
lower part of the columns, built of small bricks evidently made 
specially for this purpose, is preserved (Fig. 24). Attached 
half-columns, with a diameter a little more than three fourths 
that of the others, project from the walls ; the wall decoration, 
which imitates in stucco a veneering of colored marbles, is of 
the first style (p. 41). The columns of the entrance and 



74 POMPEII 

those at the rear have the same diameter as the half-col- 
umns ; part of the Ionic capitals belonging to them have 
been found, but the capitals of the large columns have wholly 
disappeared. 

There are only scanty remains of the floor, which consisted 
of bits of brick and tile mixed with fine mortar and pounded 
down {opus SigniiuiDt) ; it extended in a single level over the 
whole enclosed space, and from this level our estimates of 
height are reckoned. On three sides of the main hall near 
the base of the columns under the floor is a square water 
channel, indicated on our plan ; eight rectangular basins lie 
along its course, but the purpose of it is not clear. The tribu- 
nal projects from the rear wall, its floor being six Oscan feet 
above that of the rest of the building. 

The large columns about the main hall, with a diameter 
of more than ^\ feet, must have been at least 32 or 33 
feet high ; the attached half-columns with the columns at 
the entrance and at the rear, including the Ionic capitals, 
were probably not more than 20 feet high. But assuming that 
the roof of the corridor was flat, the walls must have been 
as high as the entablature of the large columns, and so must 
have extended above the entablature of the half-columns ; 
considerable portions of this upper division of the wafls 
remain. 

Along the walls on the ground are to be seen a number of 
capitals, fragments of shafts and bases belonging to a series of 
smaller columns with a diameter of 1.74 feet, all found in the 
course of the excavations. They are of tufa, coated with white 
stucco ; they can belong only here, and by the study of their 
forms — columns, half-columns, and peculiarly shaped three- 
quarter-columns — the upper division of the walls can be re- 
stored with some degree of certainty. Not to go into technical 
details, in the upper part of the side walls a section of wall con- 
taining a window alternated with a short series of columns in 
which the columns, for the sake of greater solidity, were set 
twice as close as the half-columns in the lower division of the 
wall, the intercolumniations being left entirely open (Fig. 25); 
over the entrances at the front the wall was continuous but was 



THE BASILICA 



75 



divided into sections by half-columns corresponding with the 
columns below, a window being placed between every two half- 
columns in order to conceal the difference in width between the 
sections of wall at the front and those at the sides. The arrange- 
ment was similar at the rear, on either side of the tribunal, as 
may be seen from the section (Fig. 27). 

With this restoration of the outer walls completed we are able 
to form a clear idea of the appearance of the main hall. Whether 
or not the rafters could be seen from below is uncertain, but the 
probability is that, as assumed in our restoration (Fig. 26), they 




25. — Exterior of the Basilica, restored. 



were hidden by a coffered ceiling. The simple and beautiful 
interior abounded in fine spatial effects. The corridor and main 
room were almost as high as the main room was wide, that 
is between 35 and 40 feet. The light streaming in through 
the openings in the upper portion of the walls was evenly 
distributed throughout the hall; we may assume that when 
the sun became too hot on the south side it could be shut out 
by curtains. 

In our Basilica, then, we notice a wide divergence from the 
ideal or normal plan. Instead of a clerestory above the main 
hall a proportionally greater height is given to the corridor. 
The normal height of a basilica corridor is represented by the 



76 



POMPEII 



lower division of the walls with the attached half-columns and 
their entablature ; this, however, is here treated simply as a 
lower member, and upon it, rather than upon the entablature 
of the columns about the main hall, was placed an upper 
division of wall admitting light and air through intercolumnia- 
tions and windows. 

The tribunal at the rear is the most prominent and architectu- 
rally the most effective portion of the building. The base is 
treated in a bold, simple manner; upon it, at the front, stands a 



sr^-ir<.- 




Fig. 26. — Interior of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal, restored. 



row of columns the lower portions of which show traces of 
latticework. The decoration of the walls, like that of the rest 
of the interior, imitates a veneering of colored marbles. The 
shape and comparatively narrow dimensions of the elevated 
room indicate that we have here a tribunal in the strict sense, a 
raised platform for the judge and his assistants; in the basili- 
cas provided with apses the latter were large enough to make 
room both for the judicial body and for the litigants. Here the 
litigants stood on the floor in front of the tribunal, and when 
court was in session the general public must have been excluded 
from this part of the corridor. The arrangement in this respect 



THE BASILICA 



77 




m\ I I I I I I I I I I 1 1 

rig. 27. — -Front of the tribunal — plan and elevation. 



was far from convenient, but seemingly convenience was sacri- 
ficed to aesthetic considerations ; the builders wished to treat the 
projecting front of the tribunal as an ornament to the building. 

Under the tribunal was a vaulted chamber half below the 
level of the ground ; two round holes, indicated on the plan, 
opened into it from above. It could hardly have been designed 
as a place for the confinement of prisoners ; escape would have 
been easy by means of two windows in the rear, especially 
when help was ren- 
dered from the out- 
side. More likely it 
was used, in connec- 
tion with the business 
of the court, as a 
storeroom, in which 
writing materials and 
the like, or even doc- 
uments, might be 
kept ; they could ea- 
sily have been passed 

up through the holes when needed. The second story of the 
tribunal was not as completely open to the main hall as the 
first. Its front, the remains of which have for the most part 
been recovered, was divided off by half-columns corresponding 
in number and arrangement with the columns of the first story, 
but each half-column was flanked by narrow pilasters, while a 
parapet of moderate height occupied the intervening spaces. 
It was built apparently with a view to architectural effect rather 
than practical use (Fig. 27). 

At the right and the left of the tribunal are places for stair- 
ways. Each of these contains a landing on the same level with 
the floor of the tribunal, from which it was cut off by a door ; 
the steps connecting with these landings, being of wood, have 
disappeared. In both stair rooms, however, flights of stone 
steps lead down to the vaulted chamber below, so that this 
could not have been accessible if there were wooden steps on 
both sides connecting the tribunal with the floor of the Basilica. 
Probably on one side the wooden steps led from the tribunal 



78 POMPEII 

down to the floor, but on the other ascended from the corre- 
sponding landing to the second story, thus leaving the stairway 
to the lower room unobstructed on that side. At some later 
time the door at the left between the tribunal and the landing 
was walled up, perhaps because the gallery was no longer used; 
if still in use it could to all appearances have been reached only 
by a ladder. 

The two open rooms at the rear on either side of the tribunal 
agree in their decoration with the entrance court except that 
the base with its border is higher, and the white surface above 
is moulded in stucco so as to give the appearance of slabs of 
white marble. They were no higher than the first division of 
the wall ; the windows seen in Fig. 27 above the broad entrances 
opened into the outer air. Perhaps they were used as waiting 
rooms for litigants. 

Opposite the north entrance between two columns stood 
a curb like those over the mouths of cisterns ; only the founda- 
tion stone with a circular opening is preserved. The remains 
of a lead pipe, which brought the water to it, show that it must 
have been connected with an aqueduct. At the further end of 
the main hall was an equestrian statue of which no trace has 
been found. 

The arrangement of the roof is a problem of much difficulty. 
Without wearying the reader by presenting various possibilities, 
it will be sufficient for our purposes to suggest the explanation 
which, on the whole, has the most in its favor. As assumed in 
our restoration, the roof of the main hall was carried by the 
entablature of the twenty-eight large columns. Thus in general 
the arrangement corresponded fairly well with that of other 
basiHcas except that, owing to the lack of a clerestory, the roof 
of the main hall was not much if any higher than that of the 
corridor. From the flat roof of the corridor, at least on the 
south side, the rain water flowed into the cistern near the front 
part of the building. 

The five entrances opening from the Forum into the narrow 
court could be closed by latticed doors. Similar doors hung 
also on the wooden jambs of the north and south entrances. 
With such doors a complete safeguarding could not have 



THE BASILICA 79 

been contemplated. Tradespeople using the Basilica must 
either have removed their wares at the close of business hours 
or have made the stalls sufficiently secure for protection. We 
can hardly doubt that ordinarily a night watchman was on 
duty about the building. 




Mi 



CHAPTER X 

THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 

In some respects the study of the large temple on the west 
side of the F'orum is especially satisfactory. The building had 
been completely restored after the earthquake of 63, and was 
in good order at the time of its destruction. Though ancient 
excavators removed many objects of value, including the statue 

of the divinity of the temple, 
much was left undisturbed, as 
the interesting series of stat- 
ues in the court ; in addition, a 
number of inscriptions have 
been recovered. On the whole, 
more complete information is 
at hand regarding this sanc- 
tuary than in reference to any 
other in Pompeii. 

The identification of this as 
the temple of Apollo is certain. 
The accompanying illustration shows a corner of the floor laid 
over the greater part of the cella (3 on the plan); the parts 
along the inner walls were of white mosaic. This floor was 
composed of small, lozenge-shaped pieces of green and white 
marble and slate ; of the two narrow stripes between the lozenge 
pattern and the bright mosaic fret along the border one is of 
slate, the other of red marble. In the slate stripe was an in- 
scription. The letters were outlined by means of small holes 
filled with metal, every seven holes forming a vertical line, 
every four a horizontal. The inscription, which was in Oscan, 
stated that the quaestor 0[ppius] Camp[anius], by order of the 
council and with money belonging to Apollo, had caused some- 

80 



•^ 



^m 






Fig. 28. 



■Corner of mosaic floor, cella of 
the temple of Apollo. 



THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 



8i 



'±A 




thing to be made ; ^ what this was cannot be determined, as the 
important word is missing, but apparently it was the floor. In 
the cella, moreover, stands a block of tufa, having the shape of 
half an Qgg ; this is the Omphalos, the familiar symbol of 
Apollo. In the court on the first pilaster at the right as you 
enter a tripod is painted, too large for mere decoration, and 
explicable only as a symbol of the god. Lastly, in the de- 
sign of the stucco ornamentation with 
which the entablature of the peristyle was 
adorned after the earthquake, the principal 
figures are griffins. The griffin was sacred 
to Apollo, and though it was often used as 
a purely decorative theme, in this case a 
reference to the divinity of the temple is 
unmistakable (Fig. 31). 

As previously stated (p. 49), the deviation 
of the axis of this building from that of the 
Forum is undoubtedly due to the fact that 
it followed the direction of a street which 
bordered it on the east side before the col- 
onnade of Popidius was built ; this is there- 
fore an evidence of the antiquity of the 
temple. The style of architecture, however, 
is in no essential particular different from 
that of the colonnade and of other buildings 
of the Tufa Period, and gives no indication of great age. The 
most probable explanation is that the temple was rebuilt in the 
Tufa Period on the site of an earlier structure, the orientation of 
which was preserved. The difference in direction is concealed 
by the increasing thickness, from south to north, of the pillars 
between the Forum and the court of the temple. The spaces 
between the pillars were originally left open. Later, at what 
time it is impossible to determine, they were all walled up except 
the three opposite the side of the temple ; since the temple was 
excavated these also have been closed. In comparison with 
the entrances from the Forum, at first ten in number, the 



Fig. 29. — Plan of the 
temple of Apollo. 

1. Colonnade. 

2. Podium. 

3. Cella. 

4. Altar. 

5. Sundial. 

6. Sacristan's room. 



^ O • KAMP[aniis . . . kva]issTUR • KOMBENNi[eis tanginud] • Apelluneis 

ETTIu[vad . . . opsJANNU . AAMAN[aff]ED. 



S2 POMPEII 

one on the south side, opening on the street leading from 
the Porta Marina, must have been considered unimportant. 
Otherwise pains would have been taken to give to the colon- 
nade on that side an even number of columns, so that the door 
of the temple should face an intercolumniation ; as it is the 
number is uneven and the entrance to the court had to be put a 
little to one side that it might not open upon a column. 

The court is of oblong shape. The continuous colonnade 
about the sides, the peristyle, was originally in two stories. At 
the rear of the peristyle on the north side stood the small colon- 
nade of the Doric order already mentioned (p. 62); one of the 
rooms into which in later times this was divided (6) was con- 
nected with the court of the temple, and was probably occupied 
by the sacristan {neditutis\ 

The temple stood upon a high podium, in front of which is a 
broad flight of steps. The small cella was evidently intended 
for but one statue. The columns at the sides of the deep por- 
tico, which in other respects follows the Etruscan plan (p. 63), 
are continued in a colonnade which is carried completely around 
the cella. 

In Plate II and Fig. 30 we give a view of the ruins as they 
are to-day ; in Fig, 32 a view of the temple as it appeared 
before the earthquake of 63. The height and diameter of the 
Corinthian columns seen in the restoration can be calculated with 
approximate correctness; of the entablature and parts above 
nothing has been found except a large waterspout of terra cotta 
in the form of a lion's head. 

The colonnade about the court was built of tufa, and coated 
with white stucco. It presents an odd mixture of styles, of 
which other examples also are found at Pompeii ; a Doric en- 
tablature with triglyphs was placed upon Ionic columns having 
the four-sided capital known as Roman Ionic. Here, as in the 
earlier colonnade about the Forum, the stone blocks of the 
entablature were set upon beams ; and in the blocks now in 
place we may see the sockets made to receive the ends of the 
joists of the second story floor. Evidently with the purpose of 
supporting this second story, which was probably of the Co- 
rinthian order, the Ionic columns below were made relatively 



THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO S^ 

short. No remains of an upper gallery, however, have been 
found; and it is quite possible that when the colonnade was 
restored, after the earthquake, the second story was omitted. 
The upper floor could be reached from the second story of 
the small colonnade north of the court, which was accessible 
by means of a stairway leading from the Forum. 

When the restoration of the temple and its colonnade was 




. 30. — View of the temple of .Vpollo, lookin;,^ toward Vesuvius. 
At the left of the steps, the column on which was the sundial ; in front of the steps, the altar, 

undertaken, the feeling for the pure and simple forms of the 
Greek architecture was no longer present ; the prevailing taste 
demanded gay and fantastic designs, with the use of brilliant 
colors. The Pompeians improved the opportunity afforded by 
the rebuilding to make the temple and its colonnade conform 
to the taste of the times. 

First the projecting portions of the Ionic and Corinthian 
capitals were cut off ; then shaft and capital alike were covered 
with a thick layer of stucco. New capitals were moulded in 
the stucco, of a shape in general resembling the Corinthian, 
and were painted in red, blue, and yellow ; the lower part of 



84 



POMPEII 



the shaft, unfluted, was also painted yellow. The entablature, 
at least in the case of the colonnade, was in Hke manner covered 
with stucco and ornamented with reliefs in the same colors. 
All this gaudy stucco has now fallen off ; and our illustration 
(Fig. 31) is taken from Mazois, who made the drawing soon 
after the court was excavated. The later capitals and stucco 
ornamentation of the temple itself had wholly disappeared 
before the excavations were made. 

The wall decoration of both the temple and the colonnade 




Fig. 31. — Section of the entablature of the temple of Apollo, showing the original form 
and the restoration after the earthquake. 



was originally in the first style ; a remnant of it may still be 
seen in the cella. After 63 it was modernized. The walls of 
the temple both within and without were done over in stucco, 
so as to resemble ashlar work of white marble ; apparently it 
was the intention to give the appearance of real marble. The 
walls of the colonnade were painted in the latest Pompeian style, 
in bright colors, on a white ground. The decorative designs, to 
judge from the remains and from sketches, were not of special 
interest. There was a series of pictures representing scenes 
from the Trojan War, — ^the quarrel between Achilles and Aga- 
memnon, the embassy of the Greeks to Achilles, the battle 
between Achilles and Hector (the subject of this, however, is 
doubtful), the dragging of Hector's body about the walls of 



THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 85 

Troy, Priam making entreaty for the body of Hector, and the 
rape of the Palladium, — but they have long since perished and 
are known only from unsatisfactory drawings. 

Long before this modernizing of the temple the west side of 
the court had undergone a complete transformation. The pecul- 
iar bend in the street at the northwest corner (shown in Plan 
II), the diagonal line with which the small colonnade north of 
the court ends, and the narrow, quite inaccessible space between 
the west wall of the court and the houses lying near it, cannot 
easily be explained as a part of an original plan, but must rather 
be the result of later changes. The north and south street 
which now ends abruptly at the northwest corner must originally 
have been continued through the west colonnade, the ends of 
which were left open ; this colonnade was then a public thor- 
oughfare, on which the windows of houses opened, and perhaps 
also doors. 

We learn from an inscription that about the year 10 B.C. the 
city purchased from the residents whose property adjoined the 
colonnade, for the sum of 3000 sesterces (about $155), the right 
to build a wall in front of their windows ; this explains how the 
narrow space between the wall on the north side of the court 
and the houses came to be cut off. The inscription reads : M. 
Holcoriins Rufus d\iiiiin\ v\ir\ i\jiri'\ d\ic2mdo\ tert\iin)i\, C. 
Egiiatiiis Postiinms d. v. i. d. itcr\_2nn'] ex d\^ecuriomn}i\ d\_e- 
creto\ ins hiniinum opstriiendorum HS 00 00 00 i^ede'tnerunt^ parie- 
tefnquc privatum Col\^07iiae\ Ven\^erme'] Cor\_neliae~\ usque ad 
tegulas faciundum coerarunt, — 'Marcus Holconius Rufus, duum- 
vir with judiciary authority for the third time, and Gains Egna- 
tius Postumus, duumvir with judiciary authority for the second 
time, in accordance with a decree of the city council purchased 
for 3000 sesterces the right to shut off light (from adjoining 
buildings) and caused to be constructed a wall belonging to the 
colony of Pompeii to the height of the tiles,' that is, as high as 
the roofs of the houses. 

The wall referred to was no doubt that on the west side of the 
court of the temple; when it was built the ends of the colonnade 
on that side must have been closed, so that this ceased to 
be a thoroughfare. Marcus Holconius was duumvir for the 



86 



POMPEII 



fourth time in the year 3-2 B.C. ; as an interval of at least five 
years must intervene between two duumvirates, his third duum- 
virate must have been not far from 10 b.c. 

The pedestal in the cella, on which the statue of Apollo 
stood, still remains, but no trace of the statue itself has been 
found. 

Near the foot of the steps in front is a large altar of trav- 
ertine, having the same inscription on both sides : J/. Poixins 
M.f., L. Sextilius L. f., C?i. Cornelius Cn. f., A. Come litis A.f. 
II II vir\_i^ d\_e~\ d\_ecnriomnn'\ s\_entejitia\ f\aciund2ini\ loca- 
r\tmt\ — 'Marcus Porcius the son of Marcus, Lucius Sextilius 




Fig. 32. — Temple of Apollo, restored. 

the son of Lucius, Gnaeus Cornelius the son of Gnaeus, and 
Aulus Cornelius the son of Aulus, the Board of Four, in 
accordance with the vote of the city council let the contract 
(for building this altar).' The names of the four officials who 
erected the altar, the two duumvirs and two aediles (for the 
title see p. 12), appear without surnames; this points to a rela- 
tively early time, at the latest the age of Augustus. 

At the left of the steps is an Ionic column with the inscrip- 
tion: L. SepiLfiiiis L. f. Saiidilianus, M. Herenniiis A. f. Epi- 
dianus duovii^T^ i[7i7'i~\ d\Jcundo'\ d\_e~\ s\_2ia\ p\ecimia\ 
j\_aciundiim'\ c\jirariint\, — 'Lucius Sepunius Sandilianus the 
son of Lucius, and Marcus Herennius Epidianus the son of 
Aulus, duumvirs with judiciary authority, caused (this) to be 



THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 87 

erected at their own expense.' Old sketches, made soon after 
the court was excavated, represent the column with a sundial 
on the top. The probability that a sundial belonging to the 
column was actually found is increased by the fact that these 
same men placed one on the circular bench in the Forum Tri- 
angulare. Here, in front of the temple of the Sun-god, such a 
dial would certainly have been in place. At the right of the 
steps are some blocks of lava containing holes, in which, undoubt- 
edly, the supports of a votive offering were once set, but the 
holes give no clew to the size or character of the offering. 

Other divinities besides Apollo were honored in this sanctuary, 
which in the earlier time was evidently the most important in 
the city ; statues and altars for their worship were placed in 
the court. The pedestals of the statues still remain where they 
were originally placed, on the step in front of the stylobate of 
the colonnade ; the statues themselves, with one exception, 
have been taken to Naples. There were in all six of them, 
grouped in three related pairs. In front of the third column 
at the left of the entrance, stood Venus, at the right was a 
hermaphrodite — both marble figures of about one half Hfe size. 
They belong to the pre-Roman period and were originally of 
good workmanship, but even in antiquity they had been repeat- 
edly restored and worked over. As a work of art, the her- 
maphrodite is the more important. 

An altar stands before the statue of Venus. In pre-Roman 
times this may have been the only shrine in the city at which 
worship was offered to Herentas ; for by that name the god- 
dess of love was known in the native speech. Venus as god- 
dess of the Roman colony (Fig. 4), was represented in an 
altogether different guise, and had a special place of worship 
elsewhere (see pp. 124-129). 

Though the statues of Venus and of the hermaphrodite here 
form a pair, both artistically and in respect to arrangement, the 
latter belongs not to the cycle of Venus but to that of Bacchus ; 
and in order to make this the more evident, the ears of a satyr 
were given to the figure. We may, perhaps, infer that the god 
of wine also was worshipped in this sanctuary. In the sacris- 
tan's room (6 on the plan) we find a painting in which Bacchus 



88 POMPEII 

is represented as leaning upon Silenus who is playing the lyre, 
meanwhile allowing the panther to drink out of his cup. This 
seems strange enough in a temple of Apollo ; still it cannot be 
considered conclusive evidence that Bacchus actually received 
worship here. Without doubt the Wine-god was honored in 
Pompeii, the region about which was rich in vines. He appears 
countless times in wall paintings, but no shrine dedicated to him 
has yet been found. 

On the right side of the court, in front of the third column, 
was a statue of Apollo ; on the left directly opposite stood 
Artemis, both life size figures in bronze. An altar stood 
before the statue of Artemis ; the altar of Apollo was before 
the temple. Both statues were armed with the bow, and it is 
evident that they were not designed to stand facing each other, 
but side by side, or one behind the other ; both may originally 
have belonged to a Niobe group. As works of art, they are 
not of high merit. We recognize a certain elegance and nicety 
of finish, but these qualities cannot compensate for superficiahty 
in the treatment of the figure, want of expression in the faces, 
and lack of energy in the movement. We have no other evi- 
dence of the worship of Artemis in Pompeii. 

Further on, in front of the fifth column on either side, was 
a marble herm. That on the right is still in place and is 
seen in Plate II. It is of fine workmanship, and clearly 
belongs to the pre-Roman period ; it represents Hermes, or Mer- 
cury. The god appears as a youth standing with his mantle 
drawn over the back of his head ; the face, with a placid, 
serious, mild expression, is inclined a little forward. In this 
form Mercury was honored as the presiding divinity of the 
palaestra, the god of gymnastic exercises ; we shall find him in 
the same guise later in the court of the Stabian Baths (p. 200). 
How this type of Hermes came to be chosen for the place of 
honor in athletic courts is by no means clear ; it was certainly 
designed originally to represent him as a god of death, the 
Psychopompus, conductor of souls to the Underworld. The 
worship of Mercury here as a god of gymnastic exercises would 
not be in harmony with the surroundings ; we should rather 
believe that the Pompeians, having placed him in such close 



•\ 



THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 89 

relation with Apollo, god of the death-dealing shaft, and the earth 
goddess, Maia, associated more serious ideas with his image. 

The herm on the opposite side of the court probably repre- 
sented Maia. No trace of it has been found ; the female herm 
in the Naples Museum formerly assigned to this place is now 
known to have been brought from Rome. In Greek mythology, 
the mother of Hermes was Maia, the daughter of Atlas ; and 
this relationship, by a common confusion, was transferred to the 
Italian Maia, who was originally goddess of the spring, and gave 
her name to the month of May. The assignment of the herm 
opposite Mercury to Maia is based upon a number of inscrip- 
tions which establish the existence of a cult of Mercury and 
Maia in Pompeii. From the same source we learn that with 
the worship of these two that of Augustus was intimately asso- 
ciated ; there are few better illustrations of the development of 
emperor worship in the Early Empire. 

These inscriptions were found in different places, none of 
them in their original location. They are dedications once 
attached to votive offerings, of which one was set up each year 
by a college of priests, consisting of slaves and freedmen, under 
the general direction of the city authorities. The official title 
of this college at first, certainly to 14 b.c, was Ministri Mercnrii 
Maiae, ' Servants of Mercury and Maia ' ; the word minister 
indicates a low order of priesthood. The worship of the em- 
peror was then added, and the priests were called * Servants of 
Augustus, Mercury, and Maia.' Still later, at least as early as 
2 B.C., the names of the two divinities were dropped, and the 
priests were designated simply as ' Servants of Augustus.' 

The extant inscriptions of this series come down to the year 
40 A.D. As an example, we give that of 2 B.C., in which the 
ministri Angus ti first appear : N. Veins PJiylax, N. PopidiiLS 
Alosc/ms, T. Mescinins Aniphio, Primus Arrnnti M. s.^ min. 
Aug., ex d. d. iussn M. Holconii Rufi IV, A. Clodi Flacci III 
d. V. i. d., P. Caeseti Postumi, N. Tintiri Rnji d. v. v. a. s. p. p. 
Imp. Caesajr XIII, M. Plautio Silvano cos, — ' Numenus Veins 
Phylax, Numerius Popidius Moschus, Titus Mescinius Amphio 
and Primus the slave of Marcus Arruntius, Servants of Augustus 
'o:t this up), in accordance with a decree of the city council, on 



90 POMPEII 

the order of Marcus Holconius Rufus, duumvir with judiciary 
authority for the fourth time, Aulus Clodius Flaccus, duumvir 
for the third time, and of Pubhus Caesetius Postumus and 
Numerius Tintirius Rufus, duumvirs in charge of the streets, 
buildings, and public religious festivals (the official title of the 
aediles, p. 13) in the thirteenth consulship of the Emperor 
Caesar (Augustus), the other consul being Marcus Plautius 
Silvanus.' 

It is not difficult to understand how the worship of Augustus 
came to have a place in this sanctuary. The divinities here 
honored stood in close relation to him. Apollo was his tutelary 
divinity, to whom he thought that he owed the victory at Actium, 
and in whose honor he built the magnificent temple on the 
Palatine. Venus, moreover, was revered as the ancestress of 
the JuUan family ; and finally Mercury was said to be incarnate 
in Augustus himself. 

This last conception found expression in one of the finest of 
the odes of Horace, written in 28 B.C. Fearful portents, the 
poet says, are threatening Rome; Jupiter with flaming right 
hand has even struck his own temple on the Capitoline. To 
what god shall we turn for help — to Apollo, to Venus, or to 
Mars ? or rather to thee, winged god, Maia's son, that even now 
doest walk the earth in the form of a youth, the avenger of 
Caesar : — 

Sive mutata iuvenem figura 
Ales in terris imitaris almae 
Filius Maiae, patiens vocari 
Caesaris ultor. 

It is interesting to note that evidence of the worship of 
Augustus as Mercury has come to light also in Egypt. In an 
inscription from Denderah we find Helmts Kaisar, ' beloved of 
Ptah and of Isis'; Helmis Kaisar is apparently 'Hermes 
Caesar,' and in Egyptian inscriptions Augustus is elsewhere 
referred to as 'the beloved of Ptah and of Isis.' 



CHAPTER XI 

THE BUILDINGS AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE 
FORUM, AND THE TABLE OF STANDARD MEASURES 



The large building at the northwest corner of the Forum 
(Fig. 33, I, 2, 3) was erected after the earthquake of the year 
63. We do not know whether at the time of the eruption it 
had yet been roofed ; the inside at least was in an unfinished 
state. 

This building is divided into three parts, one of which, that 
furthest north, at the corner, contains both lower and upper 
rooms. Below, at the level of the Forum, 
are two dark vaulted chambers, one at the 
rear of the other. The front chamber is 
dimly lighted by a slit in the ceihng and 
was entered from the Forum by a nar- 
row door ; there are traces of a strong iron 
grating in the doorway. It has been sup- 
posed, not without probability, that these 
were the vaults of the city treasury, the 
aerarium ; if they had been built for 
prison cells, they would naturally have 
had separate entrances. 

Above these chambers are two rooms 
which open not on the Forum, but on the 
street that runs past them on the north 
(i, i). They resemble shops and would 
be classed as such without further question but for the fact that 
the level of the floor is nearly five feet above the sidewalk, so 
that they could have been reached only by means of steps. If 
the identification of the chambers below as the vaults of the 
city treasury is correct, these rooms must have been occupied 

91 




r 



J 



Fig. 33. — Plan of the buildings 
at the northwest corner of the 
Forum. 

1. City treasury. 

2. Latrina. 

3. 4. Market buildings. 



92 POMPEII 

by the treasury officials, who could here transact business with 
the public without admitting the latter to their offices. 

The middle room (2) was a public closet, with a small ante- 
room. As the doors to and from the anteroom were not placed 
opposite each other, the interior was not visible from the street. 
The room was not entirely finished ; nevertheless, we can see 
the water channel running along three sides, and above it the 
stones on which the woodwork was to be placed ; the inlet 
pipe was in position, as well as the outlet for carrying the water 
off into a sewer at the rear. 

The last of the three parts of the building (3) is by far the 
largest. It was a high and spacious hall, with numerous 
entrances from the Forum. It was divided into two rooms by 
two short sections of wall projecting from the sides, and was 
evidently a market house, perhaps for vegetables and farm 
products. 

The rooms formed by enclosing the small colonnade at the 
rear of the court of Apollo have already been mentioned (p. 62). 
At the left of the stairway leading to the second story (shown 
in Plan II) is a small room which opens in its entire breadth 
upon the Forum (11). Close by is a recess (10), also open 
toward the P'orum, in the side of the first of the thick pillars 
which separate the Forum from the court of the temple. 

In this recess stood the table of standard measures, mensa 
p07ideraria (Fig. 34), which is now in the Naples Museum, un- 
fortunately not entire ; a part of it has disappeared. The part 
remaining consists of a large slab of limestone (a little over 8 
feet long and 1.8, or 2 Oscan feet, wide), in which are nine 
bowl-shaped cavities with holes at the bottom through which 
the contents could be drawn off ; this slab rested on two stone 
supports, and similar supports above it carried another slab, 
which is now lost, with three cavities. The table thus con- 
tained twelve standards of capacity for liquid and dry measure, 
but only ten are shown in the illustration, as two are too far 
back. 

It is evident that the table has come down from the pre- 
Roman period. The names of the measures were originally 
written in Oscan, beside the five largest cavities, and though 



THE TABLE OF STANDART) MEASURES 



93 



new = 



the letters were later erased, they are still in part legible. 
Only one word, however, can be made out with certainty, beside 
the next to the smallest cavity; that is Ktiiniks, plainly the 
same as the Greek 
CJioinix. We nat- 
urally infer that in 
the pre-Roman 
time the Pompe- 
ians used Greek 
measures. 

In the time of 
Augustus, about 20 
B.C., the cavities 
were enlarged and 
made to conform to 
the Roman stand- 
ard, but the 
names were not put 
beside them. The 
inscription on the 
front of the larger slab has reference to these changes : ' Aulus 
Clodius Flaccus, the son of Aulus, and Numerius Arcaeus 
Arellianus Caledus, the son of Numerius, duumvirs with judi- 
ciary authority, in accordance with a decree of the city council, 
caused the measures to be made equal ' to the Roman measures. 

A similar adjustment of measures to the Roman standard is 
indicated by the use of the phrase mctra exaequare on a 
table found at Minturnae. The adoption of a uniform standard 
>vas made a subject of imperial regulation by Augustus, who, by 
this means, sought to promote the unification of the Empire. 
Similar tables of measures have been found in various parts of 
the Roman world, as at Selinunto in Sicily, in the Greek islands, 
and at Bregenz on the Lake of Constance. 

It is probable that an official charged with the oversight of 
the measures had his office in the small room next to the stair- 
way (11). 




Fig. 34. — Table of standard measures, meftsa po?ideraria. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE MACELLUM 



The large building at the northeast corner of the Forum was 
a provision market, of the sort called Maccllmn. The name 
Pantheon, once applied to it, is now abandoned, and there is no 
longer the slightest doubt regarding its purpose, which is indi- 
cated by its general plan, the remains found in the course of the 
excavations, and the paintings upon the walls. 

Such markets, where provisions, especially of the finer and 
more expensive kinds, were sold and in which a cook also 

might be secured, without doubt 
existed in the Greek cities after 
the time of Alexander; from the 
Greeks, as in the case of the 
basilica, the Romans took both 
the name and the architectural 
type. 

The first macellum in Rome 
was built in 179 b.c. in con- 
nection with the enlargement 
of a fish market. In later 
times, as we learn from in- 
scriptions, others were con- 
structed in Rome and in various cities of Italy and the provinces. 
A macellum built by Nero is shown on one of the coins of 
this emperor. It agrees in essential points with our building, 
having stalls or shops of more than one story in height, and 
at the middle of the court a structure with a dome-hke roof. 
The central structure, the tholus, is mentioned by Varro as an 
essential part of a macellum, but its use is known to us only 
from the remains found at Pompeii. 

94 




- Plan of the Macellum 

1. Portico. 

2. Colonnade. 

3,3,3. Rows of market stalls. 
4. Market room for meat and 

fish. 



Chapel. 
Banquet room. 
Tholns. 
Pen. 



THE MACELLUM 



95 



The plan of our building is simple. A court in the shape of 
a rectangle, slightly longer than it is broad, is surrounded by a 
deep colonnade on the four sides. In the middle twelve bases, 
arranged so as to form a dodecagon, supported an equal number 
of columns on which a roof rested ; underneath was a rectangular 
basin in the pavement, from which a covered drain led toward 
the southeast corner. Under this roof the fish that had been 
sold were scaled, the scales being thrown into the basin, where 




Fig. 36. — View of the Macellum. 
In the foreground, part of the stylobate. In the middle ground, remains of the tholus. 
In the background, at the middle, walls and pedestal of the imperial chapel; at the 
right, market room ; at the left, banquet room. 



they were found in great quantity. Behind the colonnade on 
the south side, and opening into it, was a row of market stalls or 
small shops (3 on the plan). Above these were upper rooms, in 
front of which was a wooden gallery, but there was no stairway, 
and apparently the shopkeeper who wished to use his second 
story had to provide himself with a ladder. 

There were shops also on the north side, but they opened 
upon the street bounding the Macellum on the north ; a southern 



96 POMPEII 

exposure for the shop fronts seems to have been avoided on 
account of the damage that the heat in summer might cause to 
the stock. In the shops on this street — whether in those belong- 
ing to the building or those on the opposite side is not stated — 
the excavators found charred figs, chestnuts, plums, grapes, fruit 
in glass vessels, lentils, grain, loaves of bread, and cakes. A 
few shops behind the portico in front faced toward the Forum. 

A large market room (4) opened on the colonnade at the south- 
east corner, the entrance being divided by two columns. Along 
three sides runs a counter for meat and fish, the surface of which 
slopes toward the middle of the room. That fish were sold on the 
left side is plain from the special arrangement made to carry off 
the water; the floor behind the counter here was raised and 
sloped toward the rear, where a gutter connecting with it, and 
passing across the room, led under the counter on the south side 
into the street. 

In the little room or pen at the northeast corner of the 
colonnade (8) remains of skeletons of sheep were found. 
Such animals, then, were sold here alive ; instead of buying 
the flesh of slaughtered animals, many purchasers no doubt 
preferred to obtain a victim which could be sacrificed as an 
offering to the household gods before it was used for food. 

The paintings on the walls of the colonnade are among 
the best examples of the latest Pompeian style. Above the base 
are large black panels with a broad red border ; between them, 
in the vertical spaces separating the border of one panel from 
that of the next, are light and fantastic architectural designs in 
yellow on a white ground, the parts designed to appear furthest 
from the eye being in green and red. In this way a rich 
development of architectural forms is united, in a consistent 
and effective decorative scheme, with large panels suitable for 
paintings. 

Along the edges of the black panels run conventional plant 
designs ; in the middle are paintings symmetrically arranged in 
a series in which a pair of floating figures alternates with a 
mythological scene enclosed in a painted frame. Among the 
mythological pictures are Ulysses before Penelope, who does not 
recognize him, lo guarded by Argus, and Medea plotting the 



THE MACELLUM 



97 



murder of her children. The whole arrangement is in excellent 
taste, while the execution is careful and delicate. 

The treatment of the upper part of the wall is especially worthy 
of note. Generally in walls of the fourth style the portion 
above the large panels is filled with airy architectural designs 
upon a white or at least a bright ground. In this instance 
the fantastic architectural forms in the spaces between the 
black panels are continued upwards to the ceiling, and in the 
midst of each group a standing figure is painted on a blue 
ground — a girl with utensils for sacrifice, a satyr playing the 




Fig. 37. — The Macellum, restored. 

flute ; but the spaces above the panels are completely filled with 
representations of the things exposed for sale. Unfortunately 
only a few of these pictures remain. One contains birds, some 
alive, some killed and dressed; in another, different kinds of 
fish are seen ; and a third presents a variety of vessels in which 
wine and other Hquids could be kept. This departure from the 
usual style of decoration, strikingly suggestive, can be explained 
only as having a direct reference to the purpose of the building. 
In two small pictures in the black panels of the north entrance 
Cupids took the place of men. The Pompeians were very fond 
of the representation of Cupids as engaged in human occupa- 
tions ; it gave opportunity for the poetic treatment of everyday 



98 



POMPEII 



life, which was thus carried over into fairyland. So in one 
picture sprightly, winged little figures are celebrating the fes- 
tival of Vesta, the tutelary divinity of millers and bakers, who 
on this day, just as appears in the painting, wreathed with 
garlands their mills and much belabored asses that once a year 
were thus admitted to a share in the festal celebrations of their 
masters ; the reference to trade in bread and flour is obvious. 

In the other picture the Cu- 
pids are plaiting and selling 
wreaths ; in view of the exten- 
sive use of garlands at banquets 
and on gala days the inference 
is warranted that they, too, were 
rold in this market. In the mar- 
ket room for meat and fish there 
is another interesting picture 
representing the local divinities 
of Pompeii — personifications of 
the Sarno, of the coast, and of 
the country round about, sug- 
gesting that here the products 
of the sea, the river, and the 
land might be obtained. 

Besides the rooms thus far 
considered, which served a prac- 
tical end, we find in the Macel- 
lum two other rooms which gave 
to the building a religious char- 
acter and placed it under the 
special protection of the imperial house. One, at the middle 
of the east end (5), is a chapel consecrated to the worship of 
the emperors. The floor is raised above that of the rest of the 
building, and the entrance is reached by five steps leading 
up from the rear of the colonnade. On a pedestal against 
the rear wall, and in four niches at the sides, were statues, of 
which only the two in the niches at the right have been found ; 
these represent Octavia, the sister of Augustus (Fig. 38), and 
Marcellus (Fig. 39), the hope of Augustus and of Rome, whose 




Fig. 38. — Statue of Octavia, sister of Augus- 
tus, found in the chapel of the Macellum. 
She is represented in an attitude of wor- 
ship, with a libation saucer in her right 
hand, and a box of incense in her left. 



THE MACELLUM 99 

untimely death was lamented by Virgil in those touching verses 
in the sixth book of the Aeneid. An arm with a globe was also 
found, doubtless belonging to the statue of an emperor that stood 
on the pedestal at the rear. The chapel contains no altar ; sacri- 
fice was probably offered on a portable bronze coal pan in the 
form of a tripod. Several beautiful examples of these movable 
altars have been found, and there are numerous representations 
of them in reliefs and in wall paintings. 

The Macellum in its present form was at the time of the 
eruption by no means an ancient building. While finished and 
no doubt in use at the time of the earthquake of 63, it had 
been built not many years before, in the reign of Claudius or of 
Nero, in the place of an older structure which dated from the 
pre-Roman period. The earlier Macellum, of which scanty but 
indubitable traces remain, could not have contained a chapel for 
the worship of the emperors ; this was probably introduced into 
the plan of the structure at the time of the rebuilding. The 
most reasonable supposition is that the chapel was built in 
honor of Claudius, and that his statue with the globe as a 
symbol of world sovereignty stood on the pedestal at the rear, 
while in the niches at the left were his wife Agrippina and 
adopted son Nero. 

We can hardly doubt that Claudius was worshipped in Pom- 
peii during his lifetime ; it is known from inscriptions that 
even before the death of Claudius Nero was honored with the 
services of a special priest. That Octavia and Marcellus, 
another mother with a son who was heir to the throne, should 
be placed opposite Agrippina and Nero, was quite natural. 
Claudius, who through his mother Antonia was the grandson of 
Octavia, had great pride in this relationship, through which 
alone he was connected with the family of Augustus ; and from 
Octavia, Agrippina and Nero also were descended, the forrher 
as a daughter of Germanicus, Claudius's brother, and the latter 
through his father Gnaeus Domitius, who was a son of the older 
daughter of Octavia, also called Antonia. This thought was 
suggested by the grouping of Octavia and Marcellus with Agrip- 
pina and Nero : Octavia's descendants are now on the throne, as 
Augustus intended that they should be ; and Nero is the pride 
LofC. 



loo POMPEII 

and hope of the emperor and the Roman people, as once Mar- 
cellus was. 

The room at the left of the imperial chapel, with a wide 
entrance divided by two columns (6), was also consecrated to 
the worship of the emperors. It contains a low altar (shown 
on the plan) of peculiar shape. A slab of black stone rests on 
two marble steps ; it has a raised rim about the edge with a 
hole in one corner. Evidently this is an altar for drink offerings ; 
in this room sacrificial meals were partaken of, at which the 
long estrade at the right, like a counter, nearly three feet high, 
was perhaps used as a serving table. Such meals had an im- 
portant place among the functions of the Roman colleges of 
priests, and some priesthood connected with the worship of the 
emperors apparently had its place of meeting here ; but whether 
this was the college of the Seviri Augustales, composed of 
freedmen, or a more aristocratic priesthood modelled after the 
Sodales Augustales at Rome, cannot be determined. The pur- 
pose of the niche in the corner, with the platform in front of it 
approached by steps, is unknown. 

In this room, also, there were two pictures containing Cupids. 
In one they were represented as drinking wine and playing the 
lyre; in the other, as engaged in acts of worship — both appro- 
priate decorative subjects for a room intended for sacrificial 
banquets. 

The Macellum was entered from three sides. At the front, 
facing the Forum, was a portico consisting of two orders of 
white marble columns, one above the other, supporting a roof. 
Fragments of the Ionic or Corinthian columns belonging to the 
lower order, and of the well proportioned intermediate entabla- 
ture, have been preserved. Statues stood at the foot of the 
columns, as also at the ends of the party walls between the 
shops at the rear of the portico, and beside the two columns 
of the little vestibule at the entrance ; between the two doors 
was a small shrine, and here, too, was a statue. 

The difference in direction between the front of the Macellum 
and the side of the Forum is concealed by increasing the depth 
of the shops from south to north, so that the depth of the 
portico remained the same. The room at the extreme right, 



THE MACELLUM 



being so shallow that it could not be used as a shop, was made 
into a shrine ; the image or images set up in it must have been 
very small. What divinities were worshipped here, unless the 
Street Lares, cannot be 
conjectured. 

There is another 
entrance on the north 
side, and a third near 
the southeast corner. 
In the latter are steps, 
and at the left as you 
come in is a small 
niche under which two 
serpents were painted. 
This humble shrine was 
probably dedicated to 
the presiding divinity 
of the building, the 
Genius Macelli. 

The colonnade of the 
Macellum was thrown 
down by the earthquake 
of 63. At the time of 




t"ig- 39- 



Statue of Marcellus, son of Octavia, found 
in the chapel of the Macellum. 



the eruption the stylo- 
bate on which the col- 
umns rested, and the gutter in front of it, had been renewed; 
but only the columns on the north side and a part of those on 
the west side had been set up again. Both the columns and 
the entablature have entirely disappeared, in consequence of 
excavations made in ancient times. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE SAIVCTC/ARV OF THE CITY LARES 

In earlier times a street opened into the Forum south of the 
Macellum. Later, apparently in the time of Augustus, it was 
closed, and the end, together with adjoining space at the south, 
was occupied by a building which measures approximately sixty 
by seventy Roman feet. 

In richness of material and architectural detail this was among 
the finest edifices at Pompeii, Its walls and floors were com- 
pletely covered with marble. Now vv^e see only rough masonry, 
stripped of its veneering, but enough ves- 
J ^ ' ' M I Tj I I tiges remain to enable us to reconstruct 
the whole ; in Figs. 41 and 42 both rear 
and side views of the interior are given. 

Opening into the main room at the rear 

is a large apse (Fig. 40, 2), which gives to 

... Di f 1 . the building a peculiar character. In the 

rig. 40. — Plan of ihe sanctuary o ^ 

of the City Lares. inner part of the apse is a broad founda- 

1. Main room, unroofed, with an tioU aboUt slx fCCt high, OU which StOOd a 

altar in the centre. ^ . / j • j \ • • i^i 

2. Apse, with shrine. shrmc {acdinila), contammg a pedestal 
3,3. Recesses - aiae. for thrcc statucs of uot morc than life 

4. Niche facing the Forum. i r i • • • r 

Size ; the foundation projects in front of 
the pedestal, forming a table for offerings. A base of the same 
height as the foundation of the shrine runs along the walls of 
the apse ; it supported two columns and two attached half- 
columns on the right, and the same number on the left. 

On either side of the main room is a recess, ala, containing a 
pedestal for a statue of more than life size. The two entrances 
were flanked by pilasters nearly two Roman feet square, while 
each entrance was divided into three parts by two columns. 
There were three niches about six feet above the floor in each 

102 




THE SANCTUARY OF THE CITY LARES 



103 



of the side walls of the main room, and two more at the rear ; 
all were originally flanked by small pilasters which rested on a 
projecting base. The remains of an altar may still be seen in 
the middle of the room. 

The height of both side and rear walls can be approximately 
computed from the existing remains, the basis of computation 
for the side walls being the thickness of the pilasters at the 
entrance. The rear part of the building was certainly not less 
than 45 feet high, exclusive of the gable, while the sides could 




Fig. 41. — Sanctuary of the City Lares, looking toward the rear, restored. 



not have been more than 30 or at most 35. This difference 
in height, taken with other indications, obliges us to conclude 
that the central room was treated as a paved court open to the 
sky ; only the apse and the wings were roofed. 

It is evident that we have here a place of worship, yet not, 
properly speaking, a temple. The shrine in the apse, with its 
broad pedestal for several relatively small images, presents a 
striking analogy to the shrines of the Lares found in so many 
private houses. Cities, as well as households, had their guar- 
dian spirits. The worship of these tutelary divinities was reor- 
ganized by Augustus, who, ordered that, just as the Genius of 



I04 



POMPEII 



the master of the house was worshipped at the family shrine, 
so his Genius should receive honor together with the Lares 
of the different cities ; thus in each city the emperor was to 
be looked upon as a father, the head of the common house- 
hold. As the house had its shrine for the Lares, so also had 
the city ; that in Rome was near the spot on which the arch 
of Titus was afterwards erected. 

Undoubtedly we should recognize in this edifice the sanctuary 
of the Lares of the city, Lararium piiblicinn. On the pedestal 




Fig. 42. — North side of the sanctuary of the Ciu Laics, restored. 



of the shrine in the apse the Genius of Augustus probably 
stood, represented by a statue of the emperor himself, with his 
toga drawn over the back of his head, offering a libation ; on 
his right and on his left were the two Lares, like those repre- 
sented in paintings (p. 271) and in the little bronze images so 
often found in house shrines. 

In connection with the Lares the members of a family hon- 
ored other gods, Penates, to whose special protection the head 
of the household had committed himself and his interests. As 
we shall see later, in house shrines diminutive bronze figures 
representing Hercules, Mercury, Fortuna, and other divinities 



THE SANCTUARY OF THE CITY LARES 105 

are often found together with those of the Lares. It is quite 
possible that other gods were hkewise associated with the Lares 
of the city ; and perhaps here in the two chapels at the sides of 
the main room images of Ceres and of Bacchus were placed. 
Regarding the statues that stood in the eight niches it is better 
to refrain from conjecture. On the outside of the building, under 
the portico of the Macellum, was a small platform (4), the raised 
floor of which was reached by steps. 

At the edge of the Forum in front of the building are eight 
square blocks of basalt, which still have traces of the iron clamps 
by which marble veneering was fastened on. These supported 
the columns of a portico which was joined with the porticos of 
the Macellum and the temple of Vespasian and took the place 
of the Forum colonnade. As the main room of the building was 
open to the sky, the portico also must have been without a roof ; 
there is no trace of any support for the ends of the rafters at the 
rear. The columns in front, probably of two orders one above 
the other, were merely for ornament. Possibly awnings were 
at times stretched over the area of the portico as a protection 
against sun and rain. 



CHAPri:R XIV 

Till-: TEMri.E OF Vl'lSPASIAISr 



South of the sanctuary of the City Lares is another religious 

edifice of an entirely different character. Passin<^ from the 

Forum across the oj^en space once occupied by the portico — 

of which no remains ha\e been found — we 

*^ enter a wide doorway and lind ourselves in 

I -1 ij [J J ^ four-sided court somewhat irreg:ular in 




Fig. 43. — Plan of the tem- 
ple of Vespasian. 

1. Colonnade. 

2. Altar. 

3. lemple. 

4. Portico, forming part of the 

colonnade of the Forum. 



— shape (Fig. 43). The front part is occupied 
by a colonnade ( i ). 

At the rear a small temple (3) stands upon 
a high podium which projects in front of the 
cella and is reached b\' two flights of steps, 
The pedestal for the image of the divinity 
is built against the rear wall. 

In the middle of the court is an altar 
faced with marble and adorned on all four sides with reliefs of 
moderately good workmanship. The sacrificial scene shown 
in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 44) is on the front side, 
facing the entrance to the court. A priest with a toga drawn 
over his head in the manner prescribed for those offering sacri- 
fice, pours a libation from a shallow bowl, patera, upon an altar 
having the form of a tripod. With him :it the loft are two lic- 
tors with their bundles of rods, a flute]ihi\er, two box's, canii/Ii, 
carrying the utensils for the sacrifice, and an attendant ; at 
the right a bull intended for sacrifice is being brought to the 
altar b\' the slayer, victiniarius, luuI an assistant. In the back- 
ground is a tetrastyle temple, doubtless the temple before us; 
the scene represents the dedicatory exercises. The middle in- 
tercolumniation of the i)ortico, as indicated b\' the relief and 
shown in the plan, is wider than the other two. 

106 



THE TEMPLE OF VIOSPASIAN 



107 



On the sides of the altar some of the utensils and ceremonial 
objects used in sacrificing are represented : at the left the 
napkin {inantele\ the augural staff {lituns), and the box in which 
the incense was kept {accrra)\ at the right the libation bowl 
(^patera), a ladle {^sivipulum), and a pitcher. 

The reliefs on the back of the altar, which consist simply of 
a wreath of oak leaves with a conventional laurel on either side, 
are of special significance and give a clew to the purpose of the 




% 










JM 



Fig. 44 — Front of the altar in tlic court of the temple of Vespasian. 



edifice. On the thirteenth of January, 27 b.c, the Senate voted 
that a civic crown — that is, one made of oak leaves, of the kind 
awarded to a soldier who had saved the life of a Roman cit- 
izen — should be placed above the door of the house in which 
Augustus lived, and that the doorposts should be wreathed with 
laurel. From that time the civic crown and the laurel were recog- 
nized as attributes denoting imperial rank. This temple, there- 
fore, was built in honor of an emperor. From the inscriptions' 
of the Arval Brethren, we learn that in the case of a living em- 



io8 POMPEII 

peror a ball was the suitable victim, but that an ox was sacri- 
ficed to an emperor who had been deified after death. As the 
victim on our altar is a bull, the temple must have been dedi- 
cated to an emperor during his lifetime. With these facts in 
mind it will not be difficult to ascertain to whose worship the 
building was consecrated. 

The coins of Augustus have both the civic crown and the 
laurel, but those of his immediate successors have only the 
former. In the year 74 the laurel again appears with the crown 
on the coins of Vespasian and Titus, and we may suppose that 
the distinction formerly conferred on Augustus was about this 




Fig. 45. — -View of the temple of Vespasian. 

time revived in honor of Vespasian. It was indeed quite natural 
that men should think of Vespasian and Augustus together. 
Both restored peace and order after disastrous civil wars ; both 
adopted severe repressive measures against luxury and immoral- 
ity, and both adorned Rome with great pubHc buildings. The 
temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, which Augustus had re- 
paired and made more magnificent, Vespasian rebuilt from the 
foundation after it was burned in 69. 

The Senate, which had suffered so seriously at the hands of 



THE TEMPLE OF VESPASIAN 



109 



Nero, had reason to be deeply grateful to Vespasian, who treated 
it with marked respect, in this also following the example of 
Augustus. If the annals of the reigns of the Flavian emperors 
were not so meagre, we should very likely find a decree of the 
Senate honoring Vespasian with the civic crown and the laurel. 
Such a decree might well have suggested the founding of a 
temple, and the placing of these symbols of peace and victory 
upon its altar. 

The temple itself was built, together with the court, after the 
earthquake of 63, and at the time of the eruption the work was 
not entirely completed. The walls of the cella and of the en- 
trance from the Forum had received their veneering of marble 
and were in a finished state ; 
but those of the court, divided 
off into a series of deep panels 
above which small pediments 
alternated with arches (Fig. 
45), had received only a rough 
coat of stucco and were still 
awaiting completion. The 
temple must have been built 
in the time of Vespasian, who 
reigned from 68 to 79 a.d. ; 
and as this emperor possessed 
too great simplicity of char- 
acter to allow men to worship 
him as a god while he was 
still alive, it was probably 
dedicated to his Genius. 

The rooms at the rear of the 
temple (shown on the plan) 

were entered by a door at the right. They may have served as 
a habitation for the sacristan, or as a place of storage for the 
sacrificial utensils. The north room was also connected with 
rooms belonging to the sanctuary of the Lares, the purpose of 
which is unknown. 




Fig. 46. — The temple of Vespasian, restored. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 

The plan of the large building on the east side of the Forum, 
between the temple of Vespasian and Abbondanza Street, is 
simple and regular. In front is a deep portico (i), facing the 




Fig- 45. — Plari of the building of Eumachia, 

1. Portico, forming part of the colonnade of the 

Forum. 

2, 3. Small niches for statues. 
4( 4. Apsidal niches. 

5. 5. Large niches, accessible by means of steps. 

6. Entrance. 

7. Passage room to stairway. 

8. Porter's room. 

9. 9. Colonnade. 



10. Pedestal of the statue of Concordia Augusta, 

11. II. Light ourts. 

12. 12. Corridor. 

13. Broad niche with the statue of Eumachia. 

14. Passage leading from Abbondanza Street, 
with a door opening into the corridor. 

15. Stone with ring. 

17, 17. Rectangular elevations. 

18, 18. Remains of masonry. 



Forum. The interior consists of a large oblong court with 
three apses at the rear and a colonnade about the four sides (9); 
on three sides there is a corridor behind the colonnade, with 
numerous windows opening upon it (12). The corridor could be 
entered by three doors, two at the front end of the court, connect- 



THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA iii 

ing with the colonnade, and a third at the rear, entered from 
the end of a passage leading up from Abbondanza Street (14), 
the grade of which at this point is considerably below the pave- 
ment of the building (Fig. 50). 

An inscription appears in large letters on the entablature of 
the portico, and again on a marble tablet over the side entrance 
in Abbondanza Street: Eiimachia L. f., sacerd\_os~\ ptibl\ica\ 
nomine siio et M. Nnniistri Frontojiis fill chalcidicuni, cryptani, 
porticiis Concordiae Aiigiistae Pietati siia peqimia fecit eadeniqiie 
dedicavit, — ' Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city 
priestess, in her own name and that of her son, Marcus Numis- 
trius Fronto, built at her own expense the portico, the corridor 
{cryptam, covered passage), and the colonnade, dedicating them 
to Concordia Augusta and Pietas.' 

The word pietas, in such connections, has no English equiva- 
lent, and is difficult to translate. It sums up in a single concept 
the qualities of filial affection, conscientious devotion, and obe- 
dience to duty which in the Roman view characterized the 
proper conduct of children toward their parents and grand- 
parents. Here mother and son united in dedicating the build- 
ing to personifications, or deifications, of the perfect harmony 
and the regard for elders that prevailed in the imperial family. 

The reference of the dedication can only be to the relation 
between the Emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia ; it cannot 
apply to Nero and Agrippina, for the reason that the walls of 
the building were decorated in the third Pompeian style, which 
in Nero's time was no longer in vogue. In 22 a.d., when Livia 
was very ill, the Senate voted to erect an altar to Pietas 
Augusta. In the following year Drusus, the son of Tiberius, 
gave expression to his regard for his grandmother by placing 
her hkeness upon his coins, with the word Pietas. 

On the coins of colonies also — of Saragossa and another the 
name of which is not known — the Pietas Augusta appears, ap- 
parently about the same tim.e. Not long afterwards the har- 
monious relations between Tiberius and his mother gave place 
to mutual suspicion and hostility ; the dedication therefore 
points to the earlier part of the reign of Tiberius, and in this 
period the building was no doubt erected. The statue of 



112 POMPEII 

Concordia Augusta, a female figure with a gilded cornucopia, 
was found in the building ; the head, which has not been pre- 
served, probably bore the features of Livia. By this dedication 
the building of Eumachia, as the Macellum later, was placed 
under the protection of the imperial house. 

While the parts are enumerated in the dedicatory inscription, 
neither the name of the building as a whole, nor the purpose, is 
mentioned. A hint of the latter, however, is found in another 
inscription. A broad niche (13) opens into the corridor at the 
rear, directly behind the largest apse. Here stood a marble 
statue of a beautiful woman (Fig. 255), now replaced by a 
cast; the original is in Naples. Upon the pedestal we read: 
Etimachiae L. f., sacerd \_oti\ publ\icac\ fulloiies, — * Dedicated 
to Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city priestess, 
by the fullers.' 

This building, in which the fullers had set up, in a specially 
prominent place, a statue of the person who had erected it, 
must in some way have served the purposes of their trade. 
Clearly enough it was not a f ullery ; on the other hand, it was 
well adapted for a clothier's exchange, a bazaar for the sale of 
cloth and articles of clothing. Tables and other furniture for 
the convenience of dealers could be placed in the colonnade and 
the corridor ; in the corridor, especially, goods exposed for sale in 
front of the open windows could be conveniently inspected by 
prospective buyers, — not only by those in the corridor itself, 
but also by those looking in from the colonnade. The small 
doors between the corridor and the colonnade could be securely 
closed, and the entrance from Abbondanza Street could be 
easily guarded ; there was only a narrow door at the end 
of the passage opening into the corridor, and at the street 
entrance was a porter's room connected by doors both with 
the passage and with the street. This evidence of unusual 
precaution suggests that possibly the side entrance, from its 
close connection with the corridor, was intended especially for 
the conveyance of goods to and from the building, in order 
that the front entrance might be left for the exclusive use of 
purchasers and dealers. 

On the assumption that the building was a cloth market, it is 



THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 113 

clear that the colonnade would naturally be open at all times, 
the corridor only during business hours ; after business hours 
the corridor would be closed for the protection of the goods left 
there over night. The windows may have been closed with 
shutters as in the Oriental bazaars. Other peculiarities of ar- 
rangement also are cleared up by this explanation, but we 
cannot present them in detail. It is not possible, however, to 
make out what the purpose was of certain remains of masonry 
found on the south side of the court (18) which have now dis- 
appeared, or of two rectangular elevations at the rear (17), or, 
finally, of a large stone in the middle of the court in w^hich 
a movable iron ring is fastened (15). Our information is so 
scanty that we are unable to determine in all particulars what 
the requirements of a fuller's exchange might have been. 

At the time of the eruption men were still engaged in rebuild- 
ing the parts of the edifice that had suffered in the earthquake 
of 63. The front wall at the rear of the portico was finished 
and had received its veneering of marble ; as shown by the 
existing remains, it conformed to the plan of the earlier structure. 
The columns and entablature of the portico had not yet been 
set in place ; considerable portions of them were found in the 
area of the Forum. The wall at the rear of the court, with the 
three apses, had been rebuilt, and the workmen had begun to 
add the marble covering. The other walls had remained stand- 
ing at the time of the earthquake ; but the colonnade had been 
thrown down and was now in process of erection. The remains 
of the colonnade were removed in ancient times, probably soon 
after the destruction of the city ; yet from the parts that remain, 
both of the old building and of the restorations, we can determine 
the architectural character with certainty. We give two recon- 
structions of the interior, one showing the front (Fig. 48), the 
other the rear (Fig. 49). 

The colonnade and the portico were characterized by the 
same peculiarity of construction : they were in two stories, one 
above the other, but there was no upper floor corresponding 
with the intermediate entablature. In the case of the portico 
this is certain from the treatment of the wall at the rear, the 
ornamentation of which is carried without interruption high 



114 



POMPEII 



above the level of the entablature. If the appearance of this 
building alone had been taken into account, it would have been 
simpler and more effective to place at the front of the portico a 
single order of large columns the height of which should corre- 
spond with that of the facade ; but as the colonnade about the 
Forum was in two stories, the front of the portico was made to 
conform to it. The columns below were of the Doric, those 
above of the Ionic, order. The material — whitish limestone — 
was the same as that used in the new colonnade of the Forum. 
Nevertheless, by the skilful handling of details a certain individ- 
uality was given to the columns ; while in general appearance 
they harmonized with those about the Forum, the portico as a 
whole stood out by itself as something distinct and characteristic. 
The columns of the portico were left unfluted, as were those 
of the new Forum colonnade, and were of the same height ; but 

their proportions were 
more slender, their 
ornamental forms 
were slightly differ- 
ent, and they were 
set closer together. 
The pains and skill 
manifested in har- 
monizing the partic- 
ular with the general 
architectural effect re- 
flect much credit upon 
the Fompeian board 
of public works. Under the portico at the foot of each column 
was a statue, facing the front of the building ; the pedestals, 
which still remain, assist in determining the places of the col- 
umns, of which only one was found in position. The spaces be- 
tween the columns could be closed by latticed gates, as may be 
seen from traces of them remaining in the marble pavement 
at the south end of the portico ; the pavement elsewhere has 
disappeared. 

The wall at the rear of the portico, facing the Forum, was 
richly ornamented. The broad entrance in the middle (6) was 




I'ig- 48- 



■The building oi Eumachia : 
court, restored. 



front of the 



THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 115 

bridged at the top by a lintel. At the ends are two large niches 
more than four feet above the pavement (5), both reached by 
flights of steps. Between each of these and the doorway is a 
large apsidal arched niche (4) extending down to the pavement. 
Lastly in the projecting portions of the wall are four smaller 
niches for statues. The whole facade was overlaid with various 
kinds of colored marbles. 

None of the statues have been found, but the inscriptions 
belonging to the two that stood in the small niches at the left 
are extant and of special interest ; the names of the persons 
represented, Aeneas and Romulus, are given, together with a 
short enumeration of their heroic deeds. These statues were 
evidently copies ; the originals formed a part of a famous series 
in Rome. 

Augustus set up in his Forum the statues of renowned Roman 
generals with inscriptions setting forth their services to the 
State ; in this way, he said, the people might obtain a standard 
of comparison for himself and his successors. At the beginning 
of the series were Aeneas, the kings of Alba Longa, and Rom- 
ulus. Not one of these statues has been preserved, but some 
of the inscriptions have been found in Rome, while others are 
known from copies discovered in Arezzo, where without doubt, 
as at Pompeii, they were set up with copies of the statues — a 
forcible illustration of the striving of the smaller cities to be like 
Rome. Two other statues, perhaps representing Julius Caesar 
and Augustus, stood in the niches at the right corresponding 
with those of Aeneas and Romulus ; it is not probable that the 
rest of the series in Rome was duplicated here, because the 
remaining pedestals in the portico were all designed for figures 
of larger size. 

The colonnade about the court was of marble. The front 
part, as one entered from the portico, was higher than that on 
the sides and rear (Fig. 48); it must have presented a fine 
architectural effect. The two series of Corinthian columns, one 
above the other, reached the height of 30 feet ; the wall be- 
hind was diversified with niches and completely covered with 
marble. At the right and at the left one could pass down the 
sides under the colonnade, or through small doors into the cor- 



ii6 



POMPEII 



ridor. The walls between the colonnade and the corridor, 
pierced with large windows, were decorated below with a dado 
of colored marbles and above with painting upon stucco, in 
the third style. 

The two smaller apsidal niches at the rear were no higher 
than the colonnade, but the central apse projected above and 
terminated in a marble pediment (Fig. 49), fragments of which 
are still to be seen in the building. It was entered through 
three arched doorways, above which apparently there were 
windows. The image of Concordia Augusta, with the features 
of Livia, probably stood on the pedestal at the rear of the apse, 
while the statues of Tiberius and Drusus may have adorned the 
niches at the sides. 

We can readily see why the colonnade was made so high, 
and in two stories, when a lower structure would have afforded 
better protection against sun and rain. Had it been limited to 

the usual height the 
corridor behind it 
would have been too 
dark; and if instead 
of a double series of 
small columns, one 
above the other, there 
had been a single se- 
ries of large columns 
of the usual propor- 
tions, the thickness of 
the latter would have 
shut out much light 
and have made the colonnade seem less roomy. The arrange- 
ment adopted had the further advantage that it harmonized 
the aspect of the colonnade with that of the portico, the char- 
acter of which, as we have seen, was determined by that of the 
colonnade about the Forum. 

The small rooms of irregular shape at the sides of the apse 
(11) were light courts, left open to the sky in order to furnish 
light to the corridor at the rear, which was shut off from the 
colonnade. 




Fig. 49. — Rear of the court of the buildii 
restored. 



A Euinachia, 



THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 



117 



The corridor was about fourteen feet in height; its walls still 
have remains of decoration in the third style. 

At the right of the broad niche (13), in which the statue of 
Eumachia was found, a door opened into the passage leading 
from Abbondanza Street ; in the corresponding position at the 
left, where there was no entrance, a door was painted upon the 
wall. This is a folding door in three parts, of a kind quite 
common at Pompeii; the middle part is hung by means of hinges, 
like those on doors of the present day, fastened to one of the 
leaves at the sides, while these are represented as swinging on 
pivots at the top and the bottom. 

A stairway at the southeast corner of the corridor, over the 




Fig. 50. — Fountain of Concordia Augusta, 
In the background, steps in the side entrance of the Eumachia building. 

entrance from Abbondanza Street, led to an upper room. A 
similar stairway was placed in the last of the little rooms be- 
tween the court and the portico, at the left of the front entrance. 
The upper rooms, difficult to reach, could hardly have been 
intended for salesrooms. They must have been low, probably 
no higher than the difference between the height of the colon- 
nade and that of the corridor. They were most likely used as 
temporary storerooms for the goods of the dealers. 

In front of the entrance from Abbondanza Street, is a foun- 
tain of the ordinary Pompeian form; as the material is lime- 
stone it is probably of later date than the other fountains, which 
are generally of basalt. As may be seen in our illustration 



ii8 POMPEII 

(Fig. 50), the inlet pipe was carried by a broad standard pro- 
jecting above the edge of the basin, on the front of which a 
bust of a female figure with a cornucopia is carved in reUef. 
The right side of the face has been worn away by eager drink- 
ers pressing their mouths against the mouth of the figure, 
whence the jet issued ; it reminds one of the attenuated right 
foot of the famous bronze St. Peter in Rome. Hands also have 
worn deep, polished hollows in the stone on either side of the 
standard. The figure represents Concordia Augusta, but the 
name Abundantia, given to it when first discovered, still lingers 
in the Italian name for the street, which might more appropri- 
ately have been called Strada della Concordia. 




CHAPTER XVI 

THE COMITIUM 

The last building on the east side of the Forum, south of 
Abbondanza Street, had undergone a complete transformation a 
short time before the destruction of the city. Before the rebuild- 
ing, a row of pillars separated the interior of 
the structure from the Forum and from the 
street. At the edge of the sidewalk along 
the latter are square holes opposite the pil- 
lars (shown on the plan. Fig. 51), evidently 
designed for the insertion of posts, so that a 
temporary barrier of some sort could be set 
up. The end of the space within the barrier 
where this came to the Forum, and of the rest ^^^" 5i-— P'an of the 

Comilium, 
of the street as Well,,C0Uld be shut off by lat- , Recess opening on the 

ticed gates. main 'oo"^- 

If the barrier were set up, and the latticed ^" foTu J.""^"'"* °" ^ ^ 
gate at the Forum end left open, the building 
and the space within the barrier would be shut off from 
Abbondanza Street, but closely connected with the Forum by 
the numerous entrances. After the rebuilding only two 
entrances from the Forum were left, and one from Abbon- 
danza Street. 

It is altogether unlikely that so large a building, of irregular 
shape and with pillars on two sides, was provided with a roof ; 
we have here an open space rather, serving as an extension of 
the Forum. The walls were covered with marble and adorned 
with niches, in which, without doubt, statues were placed. On 
the south side is a large recess the floor of which, reached by a 
flight of steps, forms a kind of platform or tribune about four 
feet above the pavement of the enclosure (i). A small door at 

119 



I20 POMPEII 

the right leads into a narrow room containing a similar platform 
opening on the colonnade of the Forum (2), and to all appear- 
ances once accessible from it by steps ; afterwards both the 
steps and the tribune were walled up. 

The purpose of these tribunes, and of the building as a whole, 
is far from clear. An analogy, however, suggests itself. On 
one side of the Roman Forum near the upper end was a small 
rectangular open space called the Comitium, used in early 
times as a voting place. Between the Forum and the Comitium 
was originally a speaker's platform, the Rostra, so placed that 
orators by turning toward one side could address an audience 
in the Comitium and facing about could harangue the Forum. 
Though the later changes have obscured the original form of 
our building, yet it is plain that at one time there must have 
been two connected tribunes, one facing the Forum, the other 
the enclosed open space ; we may at least hazard the conjecture 
that the colonists of Sulla, taking the arrangements of the 
capital as their pattern in all things, designed this place as 
their Comitium. 

The enclosure was too small to admit of its use for votins: 
according to the ancient fashion, but general elections in the 
Comitium had long been a thing of the past ; only the unim- 
portant curiate elections were held there, at which each curia 
was represented by a lictor, and at other times the place was 
used for judicial proceedings. So our building was probably 
used, if not for elections, for formahties prehminary to the 
elections and for business connected with the courts. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS 




At the south end of the Forum were three buildings similar 
in plan and closely connected. In front they presented a com- 
mon facade, the narrow spaces between them being entered 
by low doors. The building at the right (Fig. 52, 3) was at the 
corner of the Forum, while the space separating the other two 
lay on a line dividing the Forum into two equal parts ; east of 
the last building is the Strada delle Scuole. 

The three buildings were erected after the earthquake of 
63, on the site of older buildings of the same character. In 
the walls of that furthest east (i), con- 
siderable remains of the earlier walls are 
embodied ; in that near the corner the 
original pavement is preserved, and in 
the middle building there are traces of the 
original pavement. Previous to this re- 
building the inner series of columns be- 
longing to the colonnade about the Forum 
had in part been removed and a barrier set 
up, by which the space in front of the mid- 
dle building and that at the left could be shut off (indicated 
on the plan by broken lines). At the time of the eruption only 
the building at the left (i) was entirely finished. The others 
still lacked their decoration on both inner and outer walls. 

These three spacious halls must have served the purposes of 
the city administration. The two at the right and the left are 
alike in having at the end opposite the entrance an apse large 
enough to accommodate one or more magistrates with their 
attendants ; they were the official quarters of the aediles and 
the duumvirs, while the middle hall was the council chamber, 
curia, where the decurions met. 



Fig. 52. — Plan of the Munic- 
ipal Buildings. 

1. Office of the duumvirs. 

2. Hall of the city council. 

3. Office of the aediles. 



122 POMPEII 

The middle room was obviously intended to be the most 
richly ornamented of the three, and was further distinguished 
from the others by the elevation of its floor, which was more 
than two feet above the pavement of the colonnade. In front 
of the entrance is a platform reached at either end by an 
approach hardly wide enough for two persons, thus suited for 
a select rather than a large attendance. 

Along the sides within runs a ledge a little more than five 
feet above the floor, on which rested a double series of col- 
umns, one above the other, serving both as ornament and as 
a support for a ceiling like that of the temple of Jupiter. 







_ .. _ 


N 






•«^ 






._ 


- . .... 



•fig- 53- — View of the south end of the Forum. 

In the background, the ruins of the municipal buildings ; in front of these, the remains of 

the colonnade. In the middle ground the pedestals of the statues of the imperial family. 

If we picture to ourselves the columns in place, the walls cov- 
ered with marble, and a rich coffered ceiHng above, we are led 
to form a favorable idea of the recuperative powers of the city 
which set about the construction of such costly and splendid 
buildings so soon after the terrible earthquake. 

The recess at the rear was designed for a large shrine pat- 
terned after the small shrines of the Lares and Penates in 
private houses. The Penates of the city were above all the 
emperor and his family. If this shrine had been finished, fig- 
ures representing Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian would proba- 
bly have been placed in it, facing the three Capitohne divinities 
in the temple of Jupiter at the other end of the Forum. 



THE MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS 123 

The ofifice of the aediles, situated at the corner of the colon- 
nade and close to the Basilica, and with no barrier to prevent 
ready access, was particularly convenient for magistrates who, 
among other duties, were charged with the maintenance of 
order and the enforcement of regulations in the markets. One 
or perhaps both aediles sat in the apse ; while the rear and 
middle parts of the room were reserved for those who had 
business with them. The front part, lower than the rest by two 
steps (shown on the plan), may have served as a waiting room. 
At the rear of the apse and in the walls at the sides were niches 
for the statues of members of the imperial family and of those 
who had rendered important services to the city. 

As the duumvirs not only sat as judges but also had in their 
hands the financial administration of the city, we can see why 
the hall set aside for their use was the first to be rebuilt after 
the earthquake. The magistrates, of course, sat in the apse, 
along the wall of which was a ledge for statues. The strong 
front doors were fastened with iron bolts, and there was also 
a latticed gate on the step in front of the threshold ; probably 
the archives of the duumviral office were kept within. The 
SQiall side door at the right made it possible to enter and leave 
the building after business hours or at other times when the 
large doors were closed. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE TEMPLE OF VENUS P0MPEL4KA 

For some years it had been known that a temple once stood 
in the rectangular block south of the strada della Marina ; and 
in 1898 workmen excavating here began to uncover the massive 
foundations. When the volcanic deposits had been removed it 
was seen that the court of the temple, with the surrounding col- 
onnade, occupied the whole area between the Basilica and the 
west wall of the long room now used as a Museum. 0n the 
podium (Fig. 55) was found a part of a statuette of Venus, of 
the familiar type which represents the goddess as preparing to 
enter the bath ; it was probably a votive offering set up by some 
worshipper. In the subterranean passageway entered near the 
southeast corner (Fig. 54, IV) the excavators found another 
votive offering, a bronze steering paddle of the kind shown in 
paintings as an attribute of Venus Pompeiana ; an example may 
be seen in Fig. 4 (p. 12). From these indications, as well as 
from the size of the temple and its location, near the Forum and 
on an elevation commanding a wide view of the sea, we are safe 
in assigning the sanctuary to Venus Pompeiana, the patron 
divinity of Roman Pompeii. 

Prior to the founding of the Roman colony the site of the 
temple had been occupied by houses, built in several stories on 
the edge of the hill, which here slopes sharply toward the south- 
west ; remains of the houses, which must have resembled those 
farther east (an example is the house of the Emperor Joseph II, 
p. 344), have b'een brought to hght in the course of the excava- 
tions. In less than a century and a half the temple was twice 
built, twice destroyed ; a third building was in progress at the 
time of the eruption. 

The first temple was erected in the early years of the Roman 
colony. An area approximately 185 Roman feet square was 

124 



THE TEMPLE OF VENUS POMPEIANA 



125 



prepared for it by levelling off and filling up, terrace walls being 
built to hold in place the earth and rubbish used for filHng. The 
foundations of the walls about the court ( A-B, C-D-E) can still 
be traced except on the south side, where, perhaps in conse- 




d 



■ 5 10 15 20 M. 

Fig. 54. — Plan of the temple of Venus Pompeiana. 



I, II. Remains of podium of first and second temples. 

III. Altar. 

IV. Entrance to underground passage. 

V. VI. Pedestals. 

A-B, C-D-E. Foundations of walls of court of first temple 

F-G-G', G"-H-I. Foundation of stj-lobate of colonnade of first temple, with gutter. 

A'-B". Foundation of rear wall of rooms opening on colonnade of first temple. 

a-b-c-d. Walls of court of second temple. 

'-f'g-h. e'-f, g'-h'. Foundations of colonnade of second temple — two rows of 

columns on each side, a single row at the rear. 
K. Main entrance of court of second temple. 
L. Smaller entrance of court of second temple. 

x,y, z. Old foundation walls having nothing to do with the temple. 
a-b-c-c'-b'. Enlargement of podium for third temple. 



quence of the earthquake at the time of the eruption, every 
vestige has disappeared, and at the southwest corner, where 
excavations for building materials in modern times have been 



126 



POMPEII 



carried below the Roman level, a part of the foundation of the 
temple itself having been removed. These walls conformed to 
the direction of the walls of the Basilica, the corners, as those 
of the BasiHca, showing a noticeable divergence from a right 
angle. 

The front of the earher colonnade is outhned by the gutter 
(F-G-C, G''-H-I), constructed of blocks of tufa, which show 
signs of long use, and the foundation of the stylobate behind the 




Fig. 55. — Ruins of the temple of Venus Pompeiana, viewed from the southeast. 

At the right, foundation of the front row of columns of the latest (unfinished) colonnade; then founda- 
tion of stylobate of earlier colonnade, with gutter. In foreground, entrance to subterranean pas- 
sage. On the podium of the temple at the farther end is seen the pedestal of the statue of the 
divinity. The wall at the rear of the court is on the south side of the strada della Marina. 



gutter, which is plainly seen (Fig. 55); in places (as indicated 
in the plan), the layer of mortar spread over this foundation 
shows the impressions made by the blocks of the stylobate which 
rested on it. At the middle of the north side (G -G") both the 
gutter and the wall under the stylobate were removed when the 
foundations of the third temple were extended in that direction. 



THE TEMPLE OF VENUS POMPEIANA 127 

Along the gutter were basins for water used in cleaning the floor 
of the court, which was made of fine concrete. The entrance to 
the court was at the northeast corner. 

On the east side of the court were six rooms, the rear of which 
was formed by the wall A'B'. Two of these opened on the 
colonnade in their whole breadth, and four with narrow doors, 
the thresholds of which, of whitish limestone, are still in place. 
Their purpose cannot be determined. The cross walls shown 
in the plan on the west side {x, y, z) belonged to an earlier build- 
ing, and have nothing to do with the temple. 

In front of the temple are remains of a large altar of whitish 
Hmestone (III). On the east side of the court is the base of 
an equestrian statue (V), of the same material, which was after- 
wards veneered with marble ; near it is a pedestal of a standing 
figure (VI), of masonry covered with stucco, and behind this is 
the small base of a fountain figure. Near the southeast corner 
is the entrance (IV) to a subterranean passageway which runs 
toward the south ; it probably led to rooms of earlier houses 
which were preserved, when the area was filled up, for the use 
of the attendants of the temple. 

The temple itself, as the other edifices, religious and secular, 
of the first years of the Roman colony, must have been built of 
common materials and coated with stucco. Of the existing re- 
mains only the inner part of the podium (I, II on the Plan) can 
be assigned to it ; a series of small blocks of tufa at the rear end 
is perhaps a remnant of the cornice which was carried around 
the upper edge of the podium. 

To the Pompeians of the Empire the modest structure of 
Republican days seemed unworthy of the tutelary divinity of 
their city. On the same podium they built a temple of marble. 
Of this are preserved the foundations of the door posts of the 
cella (Fig. 56 a) and the core of the pedestal (D) on which stood 
the statue of the divinity, besides some bits of the cella floor, 
which consisted of a border of white mosaic {b), a broad strip of 
pavement of small flags of colored marble (f), and an ornamental 
centre {a) now entirely destroyed. The only remains of the 
superstructure that can be identified are in a storeroom north of 
the temple of Apollo. They consist of fragments of large 



I2S 



POMPEII 




^ ii ^ ^ 



ig ^ ^ p 




Fig. 56, — Plan of the second temple, restored. 

A. Steps. B. Portico. C. Cella. 

D. Pedestal of the statue of the divinity. 

a. Door of cella. 

b. Floor border of white mosaic. 

c. Pavement of colored marbles. 

d. Ornamental centre. 



marble columns, nearly thirty-two inches in diameter, and of an 
entablature of corresponding dimensions. 

After the completion of the temple the Pompeians set about 
rebuilding the colonnade, on a scale of equal magnificence. 
First of all they enlarged the court by removing the old walls 

to the foundations, 
and constructed 
new outside walls 
{a-b-c-d)y the cor- 
ners of which form 
right angles. The 
wall on the north 
side, of reticulate 
work, can be distin- 
guished in Fig. 55. 
That on the east 
side is also well 
preserved, but of 
that on the south 
side no trace remains. The deep foundation of the wall on 
the west side forms the farther wall of the present Museum, the 
roof of which very nearly represents the level of the floor of the 
ancient court. The colonnade was to be single on the north, 
double on the east and west sides. The principal entrance 
was at the northeast corner (K), with a smaller entrance (L) 
at the end of the narrow street south of the Basilica. 

How far the work had progressed before the earthquake of the 
year 63 it is not easy to determine. The new gutter along the 
front of the colonnade had not yet been laid, but the foundations 
of the rows of columns {e-f-g-k, e' f',g'h') were for the most 
part ready. From the Corinthian capital and fragments of 
shafts and entablature lying about the court it is clear that these 
members were fitted and in place when they were thrown down. 
Part of the colonnade was therefore finished. It was in two 
stories, probably without an intervening floor, like the porticoes 
in front of the Macellum and the building of Eumachia. Not less 
than three hundred marble columns must have been required to 
complete the work ; undoubtedly the wall back of the colonnade 



THE TEMPLE OF VENUS POMPEIANA 129 

was divided off by pilasters below and half columns above, the 
intervening spaces being filled with marble. In point of size, 
the temple with its court formed the largest sanctuary, in rich- 
ness of materials the most splendid edifice of the entire city. 

The great earthquake felled to the ground ahke the finished 
temple and the unfinished colonnade. But the Pompeians, in 
their time of trouble least of all disposed, we may assume, to 
forsake their patron goddess, soon commenced the work of 
rebuilding. Postponing the renewal and completion of the col- 
onnade as of secondary importance, they cleared away the debris 
of the temple, and on the podium where the cella had stood 
constructed a temporary place of worship, a small wooden build- 
ing strengthened at the bottom by a low wall around the outside. 
Then they proceeded to enlarge the podium ; the third temple 
was to be even more imposing than its predecessor. The old 
steps were removed from the front. The existing podium was 
cut back five Roman feet on each side, and four inches at the 
rear, to form the core of the new podium ; on all sides of this 
a massive foundation wall was commenced, five and a half Roman 
feet thick, made of large blocks of basalt carefully worked and 
fitted. A similar wall was carried through the old podium (b-b'), 
to serve as the foundation for the front wall of the cella. The 
relative size of the component parts of the new temple is thus 
clearly indicated. The cella was to extend over the space 
b-c-c'-b', the portico over that marked a-b-b' ; how far the 
steps were to project in front is uncertain. 

At the time of the eruption five courses of basalt had been 
laid, reaching a height of more than four feet, the space between 
the core of the old podium and the outer wall being filled with 
concrete as the work progressed. On the north side of the court 
are still to be seen a number of blocks of basalt not yet trimmed 
and fitted, just as they were abandoned by the workmen when 
the work was stopped forever. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA AUGUSTA 




Fig. 57-— Plan of the temple of Fortuna Augusta. 

A. Altar. C. Cella. 

B. Portico. D. Shrine for the statue of the divinity. 

1-4. Niches for statues. 



Passing out from the Forum under the arch at the northeast 
corner, we enter the broadest street in Pompeii. On the right 
a colonnade over the sidewalk runs along the front of the 

first block, at the 
further corner of 
which, where Fo- 
rum Street opens 
into Nola Street, 
stands the small 
temple of Fortu- 
na Augusta. The 
front of the tem- 
ple is in a line with 
the colonnade, 
which seems to 
have been designed as a continuation of the colonnade about 
the Forum ; the builders apparently wished to have it appear 
that the temple was located on an extension of the Forum rather 
than on a street. The colonnade is certainly not older than the 
earlier years of the Empire, and the temple dates from the time 
of Augustus. 

The divinity of the temple and the name of its builder are 
both known to us from an inscription on the architrave of the 
shrine at the rear of the cella : M. Tiillms M.f., d. v. i. d. ter., 
qiLmq\tLennalis\ augur, tr\ibunus\ mil{itunf\ a pop\tilo\ aedeui 
Fortunae August^ae^ solo et peq\jtnia\ j-?/^?, — * Marcus Tullius 
the son of Marcus, duumvir with judiciary authority for the third 
time, quinquennial duumvir, augur, and military tribune by the 
choice of the people, (erected this) temple to Fortuna Augusta 
on his own ground and at his own expense.' 

130 



THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA AUGUSTA 



131 



Such inscriptions were ordinarily placed on the entablature 
of the portico. The portico of this temple, however, had been 
thrown down by the earthquake of 6^, and had not yet been 
rebuilt. The cella may have been damaged also, but in order 
that the worship might not be interrupted the shrine was re- 
stored ; the inscription was temporarily placed over it. 

The remains of the walls, columns, and entablature make it 
possible to reconstruct the edifice with certainty (Fig. 58). The 




Fig. 5 J. — Temple of Fortuna Augusta, restored. 



plan (Fig. 57) in several respects closely resembles that of the 
temple of Jupiter, from which the architect copied the project- 
ing platform in front of the podium, with its altar and double 
series of steps. The eight columns sustaining the portico had 
Corinthian capitals. The walls of the cella were veneered with 
marble. In the shrine at the rear stood, without doubt, the 
image of Fortuna as guardian of the fortunes of Augustus and 
protectress of the imperial family (Fig. 59). 

There were also in the walls of the cella four niches for 
statues, of which two have been found. The face of one, a 
female figure, had been sawed off in order to replace it with 



132 



POMPEII 



another, which has not come to Hght ; the features of the other 
statue were said in the reports of the excavations to resemble 
those of Cicero, but the resemblance is purely fanciful, sug- 
gested by the name Marcus Tullius in the dedicatory inscrip^ 

tion. Both statues 
were of persons con- 
nected with the priest- 
hood, not of members 
of the imperial family. 
Probably statues of 
the latter were set up 
elsewhere, so that the 
cella was left free for 
less important person- 
ages. 

The worship of 
Fortuna Augusta was 
in charge of a college 
of priests, consisting 
of four slaves and 
freedmen, who were 
called Ministri For- 
tiiiiae Angus tae, — 
'Servants of Fortuna 
Augusta.' Our infor- 
mation in regard to them is derived from five inscriptions, of 
which two were found in the temple, the others in different 
places ; but none of them where they originally belonged. 
These all relate to the small statues, signa, of which one was 
set up by the college every year. One inscription, of the year 
3 B.C., speaks of the 'first servants {ministri primi) of Fortuna 
Augusta.' The priesthood was therefore established in that year, 
and the temple was probably built only a short time before. 

In donating the land for the temple Tullius retained the 
ownership of a narrow strip of irregular shape at the right. 
Here a rough block of basalt was set up with the inscription : 
Af. Tnlli M. f. area privata, — ' Private property belonging to 
Marcus Tullius, son of Marcus.' 




Fig. 59- — Rear of the cella in the temple of Fortuna Au- 
gusta, with the statue of the goddess, restored. 



KEY TO PLAN III 



A. Portico at the Entrance of 

THE Forum Triangulare. 

B. Forum Triangulare. 

1. I. Colonnade. 

2. Promenade. 

3. Doric temple. 

4. Semicircular bench, with sun- 

dial. 

5. Sepulchral enclosure. 

6. Altars. 

7. Well house. 

8. Pedestal of the statue of Mar- 

cellus. 

C. Open-air Gymnasium — Pa- 

laestra. 

1. Colonnade. 

2. Pedestal with steps behind it. 

3. 3. Dressing rooms. 

D. Tank for Saffron Water. 

E. Large Theatre. 

1. Dressing room. 

2. Stage. 

3. Orchestra. 

4. Lna cavea. 

5. Media cavea. 

6. Summa cavea, over a corridor. 

7. 7. Tribunals. 

F. Small Theatre. 

1 . Dressing room. 

2. Stage. 

3. 3. Tribunalia. 

K. City Wall. L. 



G. Theatre Colonnade, used as 

Barracks for Gladiators. 

I. Passage leading from Stabian 





Street. 


2 


Entrance. 


3 


Doorkeeper's room. 


4 


Passage to the Large Theatre, 




walled up. 


5 


Stairway leading down from 




the Forum Triangulare. 


6 


Athletes' waiting room — Ex- 




edra. 


7 


Room with remains of weapons 




and cloth. 


8 


Guard room. 


9 


Stairs leading to overseer's 




rooms. 


10 


Kitchen. 


II 


Mess room. 


H. 


Temple of Zeus Milichius. 


I 


Colonnade. 


2 


Altar. 


3 


Cella. 


4 


Sacristan's room. 


L 


Temple of Isis. 


I 


Colonnade. 


2 


Cella. 


3 


Shrine of Harpocrates. 


4 


Purgatorium. 


5 


Hall of initiation. 


6 


Hall of the Mysteries. 


7 


Priest's residence. 



Foundations of Steps. 



0/Uii^ 



'00'lt 



•^.^ 



25 


50 


iOO 150 200 


gso 


300 






i 1 1 


. 


1 






Scale of English Feet 






iO 

Iniil 1 


20 


30 40 so 

=1 1 1 : 




m 

1 



PLAN II 



Scale of Met^'- 

•THE FORUM TRIANGUI-ARE WITH ADJACENT BUILDINGS, 



CHAPTER XX 

GENERAL VIBAV OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS NEAR THE 
STABIAN GATE— THE FORUM TRIANGULARE AND THE 
DORIC TEMPLE 

The end of the old lava stream on which Pompeii lay runs 
off into two points ; in the depression between them, as we 
have seen, was the Stabian Gate. On the edge of the spur at 
the left a temple of the Doric style was built in very early 
times. The descent here, toward the southwest, is so sharp 
and the height so great that it was not necessary to add a 
wall at the top as a means of defence. 

The sides of the temple followed in general the direction of 
the edge of the cHff. Raised upon a high foundation, it not 
only dominated the plain below but was visible also from the 
greater part of the city ; glistening in the sun, it became a 
landmark for mariners far out at sea, who from a distance 
could offer greetings to the gods there enshrined. 

In the second century B.C. the northwest corner of the 
depression back of the Stabian Gate was selected as the site 
for a large theatre (E on Plan III); previously, we may sup- 
pose, temporary wooden structures had answered the purpose. 
This location was chosen, in accordance with the Greek custom, 
because the places for the greater part of the seats for the 
spectators could be easily cut in the natural slope, which here 
had the shape of half a shallow saucer ; a superstructure was 
necessary only for the upper rows of seats. The architect, if 
not a Greek, was certainly of Greek training. 

South of the theatre an extensive colonnade (G) was erected. 
It was intended as a shelter for theatre-goers, but was afterwards 
turned into barracks for gladiators. 

With a similar purpose, a colonnade of the Doric order 
was built along two sides of the triangular level space about 



134 POMPEII 

the Greek temple (i). In front of the north end, where the 
two arms of the colonnade meet, a high portico of the Ionic 
order was erected (A) facing the street, thus forming a monu- 
mental entrance to the Theatre. The southwest side of 
the area was left unobstructed, and the place, by reason of 
its shape, is called the Forum Triangulare, ' Three-cornered 
Forum.' 

In connection with the building of the Theatre land had been 
expropriated and cleared as far north as the first east and west 
street. Here, near the entrance of the Forum Triangulare, a 
Palaestra for gymnastic exercises (C) was built, with funds left 
for public purposes by a benevolent citizen. Later, probably 
not before the time of the Roman colony, a temple of Isis (I) 
was erected, adjoining the Theatre on the northeast. 

Early in the Roman Period, not long after 80 b.c, a small 
roofed theatre (F) was constructed east of the stage of the 
Large Theatre and of the area at the rear. 

Stabian Street north and south of the Small Theatre was 
lined with private houses. At the northeast corner of the block 
was a temple of Zeus Milichius (H), seemingly of early date, 
but entirely rebuilt about the time that the Small Theatre was 
erected. 

Part of the columns and entablature belonging to the beau- 
tiful portico at the entrance of the Forum Triangulare have 
been set up again and are seen in our illustration (Fig. 60). 
The brackets projecting from the rear wall were probably 
designed for statuettes or vases. When the wall was rebuilt, 
after the earthquake of 63, a change was made in at least one 
particular. The small doorway at the middle, now at right 
angles with the wall, formerly passed obliquely through it, 
opening toward the end of the promenade which was laid out 
in front of the colonnade at the left. This promenade (2 on 
Plan III) was separated from the area of the Forum by a low 
wall ; on sunny winter days it must have been the most fre- 
quented walk in the city. 

Besides the small doorway, which was closed by a latticed 
gate hung from a wooden jamb, there was at the left a massive 




PLATE III.— THE GREEK TEMPLE AND THE FORUM TRIANGULARE, 
SEEN FROM THE SOUTH. RESTORATION BY WEICHARDT 



THE FORUM TRIANGULARE 



^35 



double door with strong bolts, inside of which was still a second 
door. It seems odd that one entrance should be so securely 
closed, while the fastenings of the other were so light. Ordi- 
narily, the large doors must have been kept shut, while the 
small entrance was left open for everyday use ; but when there 
was to be a play in the Theatre, and the magistrate who gave 
the entertainment proceeded from the Forum with a retinue in 
festal attire, then the great doors were swung back in honor of 




Fig. 6o. — Portico at the entrance of the Forum Triangulare. 



the occasion, and the opening of them formed part of an impres- 
sive ceremony. 

The colonnade within contained ninety-five Doric columns. 
It was only one story in height, and the columns for this reason 
are more slender than those of the same order in the Forum. 
The entablature varies from the Doric type only in respect to 
the architrave, which consists of two bands. The continuation 
of the colonnade along the southwest side was prevented by 
the nearness of the temple to the edge of the cUff. Here 
the magnificent view over the plain to the mountains and 
across the Bay was unimpeded ; for the enjoyment of it, two 
duumvirs in the early years of the Empire built near the west 



136 



POMPEII 



corner of the temple a semicircular stone seat, scJiola (4 on Plan 
III), like those found in connection with tombs. On the back 
they placed a sundial with the inscription: L. Scpunijis L. f. 
Sandilianus, M. Hcrennius A. f. Epidianns duo vir\i\ i. d. 
scol\am'\ et horol\ogiimi\ d. s. p. f. c. (for dc sua pecunia faci- 
undurn curaruut), — ' Lucius Sepunius SandiHanus the son of 
Lucius, and Marcus Herennius Epidianus the son of Aulus, 
duumvirs with judiciary authority, caused the seat and the sun- 




i'ig. 61. — View of the luruin 'iriauyuicuc, luukiag lu\uua \ c^linuis. 

At the left, remains of the Doric temple and of the altars and well house in front of it; at 

the right, exterior of the large theatre. 



dial to be made at their own expense.' The same duumvirs, as we 
have seen, set up a sundial in the court of the temple of Apollo. 
At the foot of the middle column at the north end of the col- 
onnade is a broad basin of Carrara marble resting on a finely 
proportioned, fluted standard; a jet of water fell into it from 
the end of a pipe which passed through the column above. A 
little further forward is a pedestal (8) veneered with marble on 
which is the inscription : M. Claudio C.f. Marcello patrono, — ' To 
Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the son of Gaius, patron.' Here 
stood a statue of Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus, a por- 
trait statue of whom we have already found in the imperial 



THE DORIC TEMPLE 137 

chapel of the Macellum. The reason why he was honored with 
more than one statue is clear from the inscription before us : he 
was patron of the colony. 

The surface of the Forum Triangulare was considerably higher 
than the top of the city wall (K) south of the barracks of the 
Gladiators. It seems Hkely that a flight of steps led down to 
the wall between the barracks and the long colonnade, as seen in 
Weichardt's restoration (Plate III). This explanation accounts 
for the existence of certain remains of walls (L on the plan), 
the purpose of which is otherwise obscure. 

Of the ancient Doric temple but little remains : only the foun- 
dation, which was high for a Greek temple, with a flight of steps 
in front ; two stumps of columns and traces of a third; four cap- 
itals, and portions of the right wall of the cella. The plan of 
the cella, however, has been traced by means of excavations. 

The foundation, unlike the podiums of the other temples at 
Pompeii, was built up in a series of broad, high steps. The 
number of the columns, eleven on the 
sides and seven in front, as in the tem- 
ple of Zeus at Agrigentum, has been 
calculated from the distances between 
the stumps. Of those in front two ^ 
were opposite the corners of the cella, Fig. 62.— Plan of the Doric 

where the edges of the flight of steps temple in the Fomm Trian- 

come to the stvlobate (Fig. 62). Only ^^^ 

-' \ o / y j_ Colonnade. 

a narrow space was needed between the 2. Outer chamber of ceiia. 
walls of the cella and the surrounding - Wr chamber of ceiia. 

" 4. bemicircular bench, with sundial. 

columns, but in order to make the out- 5- Sepuichrai enclosure. 
ward appearance more imposing the col- ' ■^ygii'^house 
umns were set as far out as they would 

have been if a second series had been placed within, between 
them and the cella ; according to the classification of Vitruvius 
the temple was a pseudodipteral. On account of the interval 
thus afforded between the entrance of the cella and the col- 
umns in front (a little over sixteen feet), it was thought proper 
to leave the number of columns uneven, so that one stood over 
against the middle of the doorway 



138 



POMPEII 



The temple was of mixed construction, part stone and part 
wood. The entablature must have been of stone, otherwise the 
intercolumniations would not have been so narrow. The space 
between the entablature and the cella, however, could only have 
been bridged by means of timbers. The stone used was the 
gray tufa, but the capitals were of the more durable Sarno lime- 
stone. The surface was coated with stucco, which in part at 
least was painted in bright colors. The projecting edge of the 
eaves trough, also covered with stucco, was painted red, yellow, 
and black, and ornamented with waterspouts in the shape of 
lions' heads alternating with rosettes. 

The proportions of the columns (lower diameter 6.07 feet, 
upper diameter 3.12 feet) with their flaring capitals, and the 




JlJBl 



Fig. 63. — The Doric temple, restored. 



'JM 



narrow intercolumniations (Fig. 63), point to an early period ; 
the archaic character of the capitals will be more fully appre- 
ciated if they are compared with those of the colonnade of the 
Forum Triangulare. In respect to age this temple ranks with 
the oldest of those at Selinunto ; it must have been built in the 
sixth century B.C. 

The cella, as our plan shows, was divided into two chambers. 
In the inner chamber (3) a large rectangular flag is embedded 
in the floor at one side so that a second (indicated on the plan 
by dotted lines) must have been near it ; the supports of a stone 
table in front of the image of the divinity perhaps rested on 
them. On the long pedestal at the right of the cella stood a 
deer of terra cotta, above life size, of which some fragments 
have been found. 



THE DORIC TEiMPi.E 139 

Directly in front of the temple, at the foot of the steps, we 
find a monument of an altogether unusual character. The 
respect with which it was regarded is evidenced by its location 
in the place ordinarily occupied by the principal altar. It con- 
sists of a small enclosure of peculiar shape, fenced in by an 
outer wall and a low inner wall. To judge from its form, it 
must have been a place of burial ; we shall find a tomb later the 
plan of which is quite similar (Plan V, right side, 2), and it is 
said that human bones were found here. These walls are not 
earlier than the imperial period, but they must have taken the 
place of an older structure ; for the altars were evidently put 
over near the east corner of the temple (6 on the plan), because 
the place which they would naturally have had was already occu- 
pied. For a time — how long it would be idle to conjecture — 
this was beyond doubt the most important temple of the city; 
the placing of the tomb in the most sacred spot in front of it 
suggests that the founder or founders of the city may have been 
buried here, and afterwards revered as heroes. 

Instead of a single altar in front of the temple there are three, 
all made of blocks of tufa, two of them resting on a single foun- 
dation ; the third is built on the ground without a foundation, 
and is of later date. One altar is larger than the other two, and 
its surface is divided into three parts. 

Not far from the altars are the remains of a small round 
structure (7 on the plan, shown in Fig. 61) about twelve feet 
in diameter. The roof, supported by eight Doric columns, was 
over the mouth of a well, which had been driven down through 
the old lava bed till living water was found for cleaning the tem- 
ple and for religious rites. According to the Oscan inscription 
on the architrave the well house was built by N. Trebius, chief 
administrative officer (titeddix tuticus) of the city. 

It is impossible to determine what divinities were worshipped 
here. The placing of two altars together, one being divided 
into three parts, and the addition of a third, seem to imply that 
three divinities received worship in common, and that besides 
these two other gods were honored in this sanctuary. The terra 
cotta deer furnishes a clew, but is not decisive evidence ; deer 
were sacred to several divinities, among others to Apollo and 



140 



POMPEII 



Artemis. A marble torso of about half life size, found on the 
declivity south of the temple, has been identified with some 
degree of probability as belonging to a statue of Apollo. Per- 
haps originally Apollo and Artemis were honored here, and 
with them Leto ; but in an Oscan inscription discovered in 1897 
the temple seems to be designated as belonging to Minerva 
(p. 240), who was perhaps also worshipped with them. 

At the time of the eruption the temple was in ruins. It may 
have been in this condition only since the earthquake of 63, or 
for a longer time. That the worship might not be abandoned a 
poor shrine was built among the ruins, smaller than the old 
cella and a little further to the right ; a drum of a column, set 
up on the flag in the floor of the cella, served as a pedestal for 
the image of the divinity. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE LARGE THEATRE 

Performances upon the stage were first given in Rome in 
the year 364 B.C. ; a pestilence was raging, and the Romans 
thought to appease the gods by a new kind of celebration in 
their honor. The performers were brought from Etruria, and 
the exercises were limited to dancing, with an accompaniment 
on the flute. There was as yet no Latin drama. The first 
regular play was presented more than a century later, in 240 
B.C., and the playwright was not a Roman but a Greek from 
Tarentum, Livius Andronicus, who translated both tragedies 
and comedies from his native tongue. The next dramatist was 
a Campanian, Gnaeus Naevius. The building of a theatre was 
not yet thought of ; a temporary wooden platform was erected 
for the actors, and the spectators spread themselves out on 
the green slope of a hillside facing it. 

When the censor Cassius Longinus in 154 b.c. commenced 
the erection of a theatre on the Palatine hill near the temple of 
Cybele, at whose festivals plays were given, the ex-consul Scipio 
Nasica rose in the Senate and in a speech full of feeling warned 
the Romans not to countenance this foreign amusement, on the 
ground that it would sap the foundations of the national character. 
His words produced so deep an impression that the Senate not 
only voted to pull down the part of the building already erected, 
and to refuse permission for the erection of similar buildings in 
the future, but even prohibited altogether the renting of seats at 
theatrical representations ; Romans who wished to see a play 
must remain standing during a performance, or sit on the 
ground. Naturally so stringent measures could not long remain 
in force. Nine years later Mummius, the destroyer of Corinth, 
presented dramas in connection with his triumph, and put up 

141 



142 POMPEII 

wooden seats for the spectators. The first stone theatre in 
Rome was built by Pompey, the rival of Caesar, in 55 B.C. In 
Pompeii, on the contrary, a permanent theatre had been erected 
at least a hundred years earlier. 

The Oscan culture was so completely merged in that of Rome 
that our knowledge of it as an independent development is 
extremely slight ; and no information has come down to us 
regarding the history of the native drama. From literary 
sources we know only of a crude form of popular comedy in 
which, as in the Italian Commedia dell' arte, there were stock 
characters distinguished by their masks, — Maccus a buffoon, 
Bucco a voracious, talkative lout. Pappus an old man who is 
always cheated, and Dossennus a knave. The scene of these 
exhibitions was always Atella, the Gotham of Campania, whence 
they were called Atellan farces. 

The Theatre at Pompeii, however, is a proof that as early as 
the second century B.C., in at least one Campanian city, dramatic 
representations of a high order were given. Here, perhaps, as 
at Athens, they were associated with the worship of Dionysus ; 
for the satyrs were companions of the Wine-god, and the head 
of a satyr, carved in tufa, still projects from the keystone of the 
arch at the outer end of one of the vaulted passages leading to 
the orchestra. Greek verse, and native verse modelled after the 
Greek, must have gained a hearing at Pompeii, and the works of 
Oscan poets — not a line of which has come down to us — must 
have stirred the hearts of the people long before Livius Andro- 
nicus, and Naevius, who brought inspiration from his Cam- 
panian home, produced their dramas at Rome. 

In describing the Theatre it will be best to take up in order 
the three main divisions common to Greek and Roman buildings 
of this class : the cavea, the large outer part shaped somewhat 
like half a funnel, containing seats for spectators; the orchestra, 
the small semicircular portion enclosed by the cavea, with an 
entrance, parodos, on either side ; and the stage, facing the or- 
chestra and the cavea. The accompanying illustrations give a 
plan (Fig. 64), and a view of the ruins in their present condi- 
tion (Fig. 65); the exterior as seen from the south is shown in 
Fig. 61. 



THE LARGE THEATRE 



143 



The cavea afforded seats for about five thousand persons. The 
greater part of it, from the orchestra to the vaulted corridor 
under the summa cavea (Fig. 64, 6), lies on the slope of the 
hill; the floor of the corridor is on a level with the Forum 
Triangulare. 

The seats are arranged in three semicircular sections. The 
lowest, ima cavea (4), next to the orchestra, contains four broad 
ledges on which, as well as in the orchestra itself, the members 
of the city council, the decurions, ^ 
could place their chairs, the * seats 
of double width.' 

The middle section, media cavea 
(5), was much deeper, extending 
from the ima cavea to the vaulted 
corridor. It contained twenty rows 
of marble seats arranged like steps, 
of which only a small portion is 
preserved. On a part of one of 
these, individual places, a little less 
than 16 inches wide, are marked 
off by vertical lines in front, and 
numbered ; they probably belonged 
to some corporation which found 
it necessary, in order to avoid con- 
fusion, to assign places to its members by number. In Rome 
the fourteen rows nearest the bottom were reserved for the 
knights. Whether a similar arrangement prevailed in the mu- 
nicipalities and the colonies is not known, but if so the number 
reserved here must have been smaller. 

The upper section, siunma cavea (6), supported by the vault 
over the corridor, was too narrow to have contained more than 
four rows of seats. 

The ima cavea was entered from the orchestra. The media 
cavea could be entered on the lower side from the passage 
{diazoma, praecinctio) between it and the ima cavea, which at 
the ends was connected by short flights of steps with the 
parodoi leading outside ; on the upper side six doors opened 
into the media cavea from the corridor, from which flights of 




Fig. 64. — Plan of the Large Theatre. 

1. Dressing room. 5. Media cavea. 

2. Stage. 6. Summa cavea. 

3. Orchestra. 7. Tribunalia. 

4. Ima cavea. 8. Tank for saffron 

water. 



144 POMPEII 

steps descended dividing the seats into five wedgelike blocks, 
ciinei^ with a small oblong block in addition on either side near 
the end of the stage. 

The corridor was accessible by four doors, one from the 
Forum Triangulare, another from the open space between this 
and the rounded exterior of the Theatre, a third at the end of 
an alley east of the temple of I sis, and a fourth opening from a 
steep passage leading up from Stabian Street. The summa 
cavea, which for convenience we may call the gallery, was 
entered by several doors (the exact number is uncertain) from 
a narrow vaulted passage along the outside. This passage, 
however, did not extend the whole length of the gallery, but 
stopped where the outer wall of the Theatre joined that of the 
Forum Triangulare. Here a stairway led to it; there was a 
second stairway at the rear of the Palaestra, and a third leading 
from the alley east of the temple of Isis ; the three are shown 
on Plan III. At the edge of the Forum Triangulare, a nar- 
row stairway, built in the thick wall, led directly to the gallery 
(Fig. 64). 

The outer wall back of the gallery rose to a considerable 
height above the last row of seats. On the inside near the top 
were projecting blocks of basalt (seen in Fig. 65), containing 
round holes in which strong wooden masts were set ; from these 
the great awning, velum, was stretched over the cavea and 
orchestra to the roof of the stage, protecting the spectators 
from the sun. This sort of covering for the theatre was a 
Campanian invention, and here, where the cavea opened toward 
the south, was especially necessary. In the Coliseum, and the 
well preserved theatre at Orange, the arrangements for fasten- 
ing the masts are on the outside of the wall. The upper part 
of the wall of our Theatre has been rebuilt in modern times, and 
it has been doubted whether the blocks of basalt and the pieces 
of cornice above with corresponding incisions are ancient ; the 
latter surely are not modern, and their slightly wedged shape 
shows that from the beginning they must have been on the 
inside of the wall. 

Near the front of the orchestra at the right and the left were 
small rectangular platforms ; one is shown in Fig. 65. They 



THE LARGE THEATRE 



145 



were supported by the vaults over the entrances (7, 7), and 
were reached by small stairways near the ends of the stage. 
They were called tribunals, and here, as in Rome, were no 
doubt reserved for the seats of those to whom special honor 
was paid. One was set aside for the use of the magistrate who 
gave the play ; in Rome the vestal virgins, in accordance with 
a decree of Augustus, occupied the other, and in Pompeii their 
place was very likely taken by the city priestesses. 




J ig. 65. — View of the Large Theatre. 



The shape of the orchestra is that of a semicircle enlarged 
in the direction of tangents at right angles with the diameter ; 
a complete circle could be inscribed in the space. It was 
probably never used for a chorus, but was occupied by the seats 
of prominent spectators, particularly the city officials and their 
friends. It was entered by means of the vaulted passages under 
the tribunals. 

The steps leading from the orchestra upon the stage (Fig. 65) 
can be explained only on the supposition that even in the 
Roman period, to which the steps in their present form belong. 



146 POMPEII 

actors who took the part of persons arriving from distant places 
came upon the stage through the orchestra. In the niches in 
front of the stage, as we learn from a wall painting, sat those 
charged with the maintenance of order in the Theatre, two 
perhaps in the rectangular niches, or one in the semicircular 
niche in the middle. 

The stage is long and narrow, measuring 120 by 24 Oscan 
feet ; the floor is a little more than three feet above the level 
of the orchestra. The rear wall, as in ancient theatres gener- 
ally, was built to represent the front of a palace, entered by 
three doors, and adorned with columns and niches for statues. 
In each of the short sections of wall at the ends of the stage is 
a broad doorway, extending across almost the entire space. 
The long narrow room behind the stage, used as a dressing 
room {postscae?ii?nn), was entered by a door at the rear, which 
was reached by an inclined approach. No trace of the roof 
of the stage remains, but from the better preserved theatres at 
Orange, in the south of France, and at Aspendus, in Asia 
Minor, we infer that it sloped back toward the rear wall. The 
floor was of wood. 

The room underneath the stage was divided into several 
parts. Between the front wall and that just back of it 
(seen in Fig. 65) was the place for the curtain, which, as in 
Roman theatres, was let down at the beginning of the play, 
and raised at the end. The space between the parallel walls 
must have been covered, leaving only a narrow slit for the cur- 
tain ; otherwise it would not have been easy to go upon the 
stage from the steps in the orchestra. 

Underneath the place for the curtain is a low passage, in 
the vaulted roof of which are two rows of holes, a little more 
than a foot square, cut in blocks of basalt, and evidently 
designed to hold upright timbers. This passage has in recent 
years been entirely cleared. In the floor, directly under the 
openings in the vaulted roof and corresponding with them, were 
square holes. In those nearer the front of the stage were 
remains of timbers and of square pieces of iron fitted to the 
ends of these, a larger and a smaller piece for each hole. It 
seems likely that, as Mazois suggested, hollow upright beams 



THE LARGE THEATRE 147 

were set in the holes, and in them smaller hollow beams were 
placed, in which were still smaller poles or iron rods ; by the 
sliding of these up and down, the long horizontal pole on which 
the curtain was hung could be raised or lowered. The use of 
the inner row of holes has not been satisfactorily explained. 

The room under the right of the stage is so low, about three 
feet, that it could not have been available for any purpose, but 
that at the left is higher, and was used for theatrical machinery, 
the scanty remains of which arouse our curiosity without satis- 
fying it. In the floor are set two oblong blocks of limestone, 
about four feet in length. Each has in its upper surface a round 
hole, between two and three inches deep, with an iron socket, 
in which there are still remains of an iron cap once fitted 
to the lower end of a vertical wooden shaft that turned in 
it; the upper end of the shaft — assuming that the blocks are 
in their original position — must have revolved in a socket fixed 
in one of the joists of the stage floor. There is besides on the 
upper surface of each block a rectangular depression, and on 
either side a shallow incision ; the purpose is altogether obscure. 
A third stone, similar to these two, is set in the north wall of 
the same room, and opposite it was fitted another; here, then, a 
horizontal shaft turned ; there was a similar pair of stones at the 
left end of the place for the curtain. These arrangements 
suggest the crane-hke machine by which floating figures were 
brought upon the stage, as Medea in the play of Euripides 
riding in a chariot drawn by dragons, and the famihar dens ex 
macJiina ; such machinery, according to Pollux (Onomast. IV. 
128), was placed on the left side of the stage. 

When plays were presented, the front of the palace at the 
back of the stage was concealed by painted scenery. As sev- 
eral pieces might be produced one after the other, it was 
necessary to arrange for the shifting of scenes. This was ac- 
complished by drawing one set of decorations off to the sides, 
thus bringing the next set into view {scaena dnctilis); the ends 
were changed by turning the periactoi, huge three-sided prisms, 
each side of which was suited to a different scene {scaena ver- 
silis). In spite of the clumsiness of the arrangements, as 
contrasted with those of the best modern theatres, the mount- 



148 . POMPEII 

ing of plays was artistic and impressive, and compares favorably 
v/ith that of Shakespeare's time. 

The only allusions to matters connected with theatrical repre- 
sentations at Pompeii are in inscriptions relating to actors, as 
Sorex (p. 176). A number of graffiti scratched on walls in 
various parts of the city mention an Actius Anicetus, whose 
name is given in full in an inscription found at Puteoh, 
C. Ummidius Actius Anicetus. He seems to have been a very 
popular actor of pantomime, at the head of a troupe. One of 
the inscriptions reads: Acti, a[_inoj'] popiili, cito rcdi, — 'Actius, 
darling of the people, come back quickly ! ' 

The theatre in antiquity was by no means reserved for scenic 
representations alone. It was a convenient place for bringing the 
people together, and was used for public gatherings of the 
most varied character. In the theatre at Tarentum the memo- 
rable assembly met which heaped insults upon the Roman 
ambassadors and precipitated war with Rome. At Pergamos 
King Mithridates was to be crowned in the theatre by a de- 
scending Victory, but by some mishap the wreath fell to the 
floor, an omen of evil. When the Ephesians, stirred up by 
Demetrius the silversmith, wished to take measures against 
Paul and his companions, " They rushed with one accord into 
the theatre." On such occasions we may suppose that the 
front of the palace at the rear of the stage served as a back- 
ground without other decoration. This use of the theatre for 
general purposes was a Greek rather than a Roman custom, 
but the theatre itself in Italy was an importation from Greece ; 
and we may suppose that the theatre at Pompeii was on more 
than one occasion the scene of notable demonstrations. 

Our Theatre, as is evident from the character of the con- 
struction, in its original form belonged to the Tufa Period, but 
was rebuilt in Roman times. Some particulars in regard to the 
rebuilding are given in an inscription : M. M. Holcoiiii Riifus 
et Celer cryptam, tribitimlia, tkeatruin, — ' Marcus Holconius 
Rufus and Marcus Holconius Celer (built) the crypt, the tribu- 
nals, and the part designed for spectators,' that is, the vaulted 
corridor under the gallery, the platforms over the entrances to 
the orchestra, and the cavea. 



THE LARGE THEATRE 149 

The two Holconii lived in the time of Augustus. The elder, 
Rufus, was duumvir for the fourth term in 3-2 B.C. The work 
on the Theatre was probably done about that time ; for soon 
afterwards, before his fifth duumvirate, a statue in his honor 
was erected in the Theatre, as we learn from an inscription. 
Later, in 13-14 a.d., the younger Holconius also, when he had 
been chosen quinquennial duumvir, was honored with a statue. 
The masonry of the corridor and of the exterior arches support- 
ing it, as well as of the tribunals, well agrees with that in 
vogue in the Augustan Age ; we find brick-shaped blocks of 
tufa and reticulate work. The marble seats in the cavea may 
be assigned to the same period ; in the original structure the 
benches must have been of tufa. About the same time the 
present wall at the back of the stage was built, in the place of 
an older and much simpler facade, but not by the Holconii ; if 
this also had been rebuilt by them, it would have been mentioned 
in the inscription. 

Possibly the tribunals were an addition due to the Hol- 
conii. The corridor under the gallery, however, must have 
been built in the place of an earlier corridor, for the piers on 
the outside rest on foundations similar in character to the 
oldest parts of the building. As these piers served no other 
purpose than to sustain the passage opening into the section 
of seats above the corridor, this must have formed a part of the 
original plan. 

The statues of both the Holconii probably stood in niches 
in the wall at the back of the stage. Holconius Rufus was 
further honored with a monument of some sort in the cavea. 
The lowest seat of the media cavea had at the middle, directly 
opposite the stage, a double width for a distance of about five 
feet, gained by removing a portion of the next seat above. 
Here was an inscription in bronze letters: M. Holcoiiio M. f. 
Rufo, II. V. i. d. quinquiens^ iter\jim'\ qiiinq\jie njiali\ trib\_uno~\ 
niil\itmn'\ a p\op2ilo'\, flaviini Ang\tisti\, patr[oiio'] colo\jiiae~\, 
d\ecurionuin'\ d\_ec7'eto\ — '[Dedicated] in accordance with a 
decree of the city council to Marcus Holconius Rufus the son 
of Marcus, five times duumvir with judiciary authority, twice 
quinquennial duumvir, military tribune by the choice of the 



I50 POMPEII 

people, priest of Augustus, and patron of the colony.' The 
object placed here was of bronze, and was made secure by 
fastenings set in twelve holes ; what it was is altogether un- 
certain. The ancients had the custom of conferring lasting 
honor upon a deserving man after death by placing in the 
theatre a seat inscribed with his name. We should be glad to 
believe that a 'seat of double width,' biselliiLni, the use of 
which was allowed to members of the city council, was placed 
here, but the arrangement of the twelve holes is difficult to 
reconcile with this explanation. 

The architect employed by the Holconii, a freedman, was 
not honored with a statue, but his name was transmitted to 
posterity in an inscription placed in the outer wall near the 
east entrance to the orchestra : M. Artorius M. l\ibcrttLs\ 
Primus^ arcJiitectiis, — * Marcus Artorius Primus, freedman of 
Marcus, architect.' 

The plan of the Theatre could not have been taken from a 
Roman model ; it conforms, as we should have expected, to the 
Greek type. In the Roman theatre the orchestra was in the 
form of a semicircle, of which the diameter was represented 
by the stage. In Greek theatres, on the contrary, the stage 
according to Vitruvius was laid out on one side of a square in- 
scribed in the circle of the orchestra ; the orchestra, as shown 
by existing remains, in most cases was either a complete circle 
or was so extended by tangents at the sides that a circle could 
be inscribed in it. The latter is the case in our Theatre, of 
which the orchestra has essentially the same form as that of 
the theatre of Dionysus at Athens. 

The stage falls under the limit of height, — five feet, — 
allowed by Vitruvius for the stage of the Roman theatre, not 
to mention the height of ten to twelve feet specified for that 
of the Greek type. The reason assigned for the moderate ele- 
vation of the Roman stage is that the orchestra was occu- 
pied by the seats of senators, whose view would be obstructed 
if more than a moderate elevation should be given to the front 
of the stage. The orchestra of our Theatre was apparently 
from the beginning intended for the use of spectators, not 
for a chorus. 



THE LARGE THEATRE 151 

The conclusions reached by Dr. William Doerpfeld in regard 
to the stage of the Greek theatre, if borne out by the facts, would 
necessitate a complete abandonment of previous views on the 
subject. His theory, in brief, is, that not only the chorus but 
also the actors went through their parts not on the stage but in 
the orchestra, which had the form of a circle, and that what we 
are accustomed to consider the front wall of the stage was 
rather the rear vv^all of the platform in the orchestra on which 
the actors and chorus stood, this wall being laid out on a tan- 
gent of the circle and having a height of twelve feet, as we 
may understand from Vitruvius and from the remains of the 
theatre at Epidaurus. 

The main reasons advanced in support of this theory are that 
the platform currently regarded as the stage, which according 
to Vitruvius and the existing remains was hardly more than ten 
feet wide, must have been too narrow to allow free movement 
on the part of the actors, and that the height above the orches- 
tra was too great to admit of the close relation between the ac- 
tors and the chorus, of which there is abundant evidence in the 
extant dramas. According to Dr. Doerpfeld, the stage came 
into existence in Italy first, and in the Roman period, when there 
was no longer any chorus ; a platform five feet high was built 
for the actors, extending to the middle of the orchestra, so that 
this now took the form of a semicircle and could be used for the 
seats of spectators. 

To undertake the examination of Dr. Doerpfeld's theory in 
detail would not be pertinent here ; yet we cannot bring our 
description of the Theatre at Pompeii to a close without inquir- 
ing whether this structure, which is perhaps a century older 
than the oldest Roman theatre, shows any trace of the arrange- 
ment which the theory assumes. Unfortunately, the evidence is 
not conclusive for either a negative or an affrrmative answer. 
Just as this second edition goes to press a joint investigation of 
the whole matter has been undertaken by the author and Dr. 
Doerpfeld, whose work is being facilitated by excavations. It 
is yet too early to anticipate the conclusions to which the evi- 
dence thus gained will lead; we may hazard a tentative state- 
ment in regard to only one or two points. 



152 



POMPEII 



It now appears probable that the present stage was not con-' 
structed at the same time with the other parts of the Theatre, 
but that it is a later addition. There is no trace of an earlier 
stage, and there is nothing to indicate that this was built against 
the part of the structure designed for the spectators. We might 
assume that this earlier stage was placed at a slight distance from 
the other parts of the building, and that the entrances of the 
orchestra, the parodoi, lay between, were it not for the fact that 
the outer doorways of the present parodoi — notably that on the 
west side with the head of a satyr on the keystone — unquestion- 
ably belong to the original structure; and we should not be 
warranted in assuming two entrances to the orchestra on each 
side. At the same time it is evident that the construction of 
the tribunalia must have involved a rebuilding of this part of the 
Theatre, and it is possible that originally passages led from the 
outer doors of the present parodoi, not to the orchestra, but to 
the ranges of seats. In that case, assuming that the stage was 
sHghtly removed from the rest of the structure, we may freely 
grant that the acting may have gone on in front of it rather 
than upon it, and that this may have been a Greek theatre 
according to Dr. Doerpfeld's view. But we are here dealing only 
with possibilities; it is to be hoped that further investigation 
will bring to light data for a final solution of the problem. 

In the open space between the Theatre, the Forum Triangu- 
lare, and the Palaestra there is a deep reservoir for water (D), 
square on the outside and round within. It was evidently used 
for the sprinklings, sparsioiies, with saffron-colored water, by 
which on summer days the heat of the Theatre was molHfied. 
That such sprinklings were in vogue in Pompeii is known from 
announcements of gladiatorial combats, painted on walls, in 
which they are advertised together with an awning as part of 
the attraction, — sparsiones, vela ernnt. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE SMALL THEATRE 

The names of the builders of the Small Theatre are known 
from an inscription which is found in duplicate in different parts 
of the building: C. Quiiictiits C. f. Valg\iis\ M. Porcius M.f. 
duovir\_i\ dec\_ujHojiiint] decr\eto'\ theatrum tectum fac\iundiini\ 
locar\_unt'\ eideinq\^He'\ prob\_anijit'], — 'Gains Quinctius Valgus 
the son of Gains and Marcus Porcius the son of Marcus, duum- 
virs, in accordance with a decree of the city council let the con- 
tract for building the covered theatre, and approved the work.' 
Later the same officials, when, after the customary interval, they 
had been elected quinquennial duumvirs, built the Amphitheatre 
'at their own expense' (p. 212). 

When two magistrates set up an inscription in duplicate, ordi- 
narily the name of one appears first in one copy, while that of 
the second is put first in the other. In all 
four inscriptions, however, two at the Small [^^^^^^ 
Theatre and two at the Amphitheatre, Valgus Y 
has the first place. The reason in the case of j ^x 
the Amphitheatre is not far to seek : Valgus \^' ' zz~ ' \ 

was the man of means, who furnished the f-^— -J ' 

money for the building, but allowed his col- [ 1 |=i' 

league and friend to share in the honor. We ^'S- 66.- Plan of the 

Small Theatre. 

may also beheve that, while the Small Thea- 

-' I. Dressing room. 

tre was erected ' in accordance with a decree 2. stage. 
of the city council,' and hence presumably at ^'^ 
public expense, a part of the funds was contributed by Valgus, who 
on this account received honor above his less opulent colleague. 
The son-in-law of this Valgus, Publius Servilius RuUus, has 
been undeservedly immortalized by a speech of Cicero in oppo- 
sition to a bill brought forward by him in regard to the division 
of the pubhc lands. From the same oration we learn that Val- 

153 



154 



POMPEII 



gus, a man without scruples, had taken advantage of the reign 
of terror instituted by Sulla to acquire vast wealth, particularly 
in the way of landed property. Among his estates was one in 
the country of the Hirpini, near the city of Aeclanum (south of 
Beneventum), which made him its patron and for which, as 
shown by an inscription, he repaired the walls destroyed in the 
Civil War. He was undoubtedly one of the leading men in the 
colony founded by Sulla at Pompeii, and very likely sought by 




Fig. 67. — View of the Small Theatre. 



large pubhc benefactions to cast his former life into oblivion. 
The Small Theatre must have been built in the early years of 
the Roman colony, not long after 80 B.C. 

A covered auditorium in the immediate vicinity of a large 
unroofed theatre was not uncommon. About the time of the 
destruction of Pompeii the poet Statins, praising the magnifi- 
cence of his native city Naples, speaks of ' twin theatres in a sin- 
gle structure, one open and one roofed,' — gcininam molein nudi 
tectique tJicatri. Our only clew to the special use of such a 



THE SMALL THEATRE 155 

building, however, is derived from the one erected at Athens by 
Herodes Atticus, in the reign of Hadrian. This was called an 
Odeum, that is, according to the derivation of the word, a room 
for singing ; musical entertainments were held there, especially, 
we may assume, those musical contests which had so important 
a place in ancient festivals. The purpose of the roof was doubt- 
less to add to the acoustic effect. 

The plan of the Large Theatre has been discussed at so great 
length that a few words will suffice in relation to that of the 
smaller structure (Fig. 66). That it might be possible to cover 
the enclosed space with a roof, the upper rows of seats were 
reduced in length, and the whole building — cavea, orchestra, 
and stage — was brought into an oblong shape ; only the orches- 
tra and the lower rows of seats in the cavea form a complete 
semicircle. The pyramidal roof was supported by a wall on all 
four sides ; in the upper part of the wall, between the roof and 
the highest row of seats, there were probably windows. 

The seating capacity of the building was about fifteen hundred. 
The lowest section of the cavea, as in the Large Theatre, con- 
sisted of four low, broad ledges on which 
the chairs of the decurions could be placed. 
Above these is a parapet, behind which 
is a passage accessible at either end by 
semicircular steps. The broad range of 
seats above was divided into five wedge- tig. 68 -seciicm ot a s.at 

in the Small Theatre. 

shaped blocks by flights of steps ; only two 

of these, however, extended as far as the passage running along 

the upper side, which could be reached from the alley at the rear 

of the building by means of stairways connecting with outside 

doors. 

The seats were of masonry capped with slabs of tufa about 
seven inches thick. They had depressions in the side and in 
the top, as may be- seen in the accompanying section (Fig. 68). 
They were thus made somewhat more comfortable, the person 
in front being less subject to disturbance from the feet of one 
sitting on the next seat behind ; a saving of room was also 
effected — an important consideration in the construction of 
a small auditorium. 











S.'.o -■-■-^ 




i 


\ 







156 



POMPEII 




Fig. 69. — An Atlas. 



The tribunals (3, 3) differed from those in the Large Theatre 
in that they were shut off entirely from the seats of the cavea 
by a sharply incHned wall, and were entered only from the stage, 
by means of narrow stairways ; in this way the ex- 
clusive character of the seats was made still more 
prominent. Besides the platform itself, measur- 
ing only about 1 1 by 9 feet, three seats above 
each tribunal were set off with it by the same di- 
vision wall and were available for the occupants. 
The sloping wall between the tribunal and the 
cavea on each side ends with a kneeling Atlas 
(Fig, 69); large vases probably stood on the two 
brackets supported by these figures. The end 
of the parapet on either side is embellished with a lion's foot of 
tufa (Fig. 70). These rather coarse sculptures illustrate the 
character of the art that was brought to Pompeii 
by the Roman colony. The workmanship is by no 
means fine, yet the muscles of the figures are well 
rendered, and the effect is pleasing. 

The pavement of the orchestra (seen in Fig. 6"]) 
consists of small flags of colored marble. An in- 
scription in bronze letters informs us that it was Fig. 70. — Orna- 
laid by the duumvir Marcus Oculatius Verus pro ^^J'J ^J |['^ 
liidis, that is instead of the games which he would parapet, 
otherwise have been expected to provide. 

At the ends of the stage, as in the case of the Large Theatre, 
there were two broad entrances. The wall at the rear, which 
was veneered with marble, had the customary three doors, and 
in addition two small doors, one near each end. The long 
dressing room behind the stage had likewise two broad entrances 
at the ends, besides four at the rear. Apparently the two nar- 
row doors near the ends of the wall at the rear of the stage, and 
the two doors corresponding with them at the back of the dress- 
ing room, were for the use of those who had seats on the tribu- 
nals ; they could thus enter and leave their places even when the 
large side doors of both stage and dressing room had been shut 
— as undoubtedly happened immediately after the procession 
(^pompd) had passed across the stage. 




CHAPTER XXIII 



THE THEATRE COLONNADE, USED AS BARRACKS FOR 
GLADIATORS 

'Behind the stage,' says Vitruvius (V. ix.), speaking of the 
arrangements of the theatre, ' colonnades should be built, that 
shelter may be 

afforded to spec- r"^ ^y!^^^^^^^^JfflMJ"V ^____~ — =^ f \ 
tators in case of fcLJ^^^^BTT 

rain and a place 
provided for mak- 
ing preparations 
for the stage.' 

This maxim of 
ancient archi- 
tects was applied 
at Pompeii in a 
generous way ; 
in connection 
with the theatres 
there was an ex- 
tensive system 
of colonnades. 
To understand 
their use it will 
be necessary first 
to view them as 
they were in the 
earher time, and 
then to take ac- 
count of later 
changes. 

In the Oscan Period, and afterwards to the end of the Re 

157 




Fig. 71. 



Plan of the Theatre Colonnade, showing its relation 
to the two theatres. 

1. Passage leading from Stabian Street. 

2. Entrance, 

3 Doorkeeper's room. 

4- Passage to Large Theatre, walled up. 

5. Stairway from the Forum Triangulare. 

6. Exedra — athletes' waiting room. 

7. Room with remains of costumes. 

8. Guard room. 

9. Stairway to overseer's rooms. 

10. Kitchen? 

11. Mess room. 



158 POMPEII 

public, when a performance in the Large Theatre was inter- 
rupted by a shower, the spectators in the upper seats could 
take refuge under the colonnade of the P'orum Triangulare ; 
those below found shelter under the rectangular colonnade 
at the rear, which was obviously built for the purpose, and 
may be called, by way of distinction, the Theatre Colonnade 
(Fig. 71). It contained seventy-four Doric columns, and en- 
closed a large open area. The main entrance (2) was near the 
northeast corner. The entrance hall on the side of the colon- 
nade was supported by three Ionic columns. It was connected 
at the north end with a short colonnade on the east side of the 
area back of the stage of the Theatre ; this led to the large 
door at the east end of the stage and the corresponding 
parodos of the orchestra ; the wall at 4 on our plan is a later 
addition. The Theatre Colonnade must have been used also 
as a promenade on days when there was no performance ; it 
was connected by a broad passage (i) with Stabian Street. 

This colonnade seems too far away to have served as a place 
for making preparations for the stage ; another was erected for 
that purpose. At the northwest corner a broad stairway leads 
down from the Forum Triangulare (5 ; cf. Fig. 65); from the foot 
a small and inconvenient flight of steps leads into the area 
at the rear of the stage. In a line with the stairway is a series 
of small rooms opening toward the south. These do not belong 
to the original structure. In their place there was once a colon- 
nade, which faced the north and connected the large stairway 
with the short colonnade, the remains of which are still to be 
seen on the east side of the area ; the back of it was at the 
same time the back of the north division of the Theatre Colon- 
nade. There was thus a covered passage extending from the 
foot of the stairway along two sides of the area to the east 
entrance of the stage and of the orchestra, which would answer 
very well to the second part of Vitruvius's dictum ; but it had 
also another important use. 

The portico of the Forum Triangulare, as we have seen, was 
at the same time the monumental entrance of the Theatre, and 
the large doorway at the left was used only for the ceremonious 
admission of the city officials, who with their retinue formed a 



THE THEATRE COLONNADE 159 

procession in the Forum and wended their way hither in festal 
attire in order to open the performance — a formaUty that may 
be compared with the parade with which the Roman games 
were opened at Rome. 

The route of such a procession, after entering the Forum 
Triangulare, is now clear. It passed along under the colon- 
nade adjoining the Theatre, beyond the entrances to the upper 
portion of the cavea ; turned and descended the broad stair- 
way (5), proceeded under the colonnade along the south and 
east sides of the area behind the stage, and finally came upon the 
stage through the wide doorway at the east end. It was indeed 
possible to pass beyond the stage entrance and proceed through 
the parodos directly to the seats of the orchestra and the lowest 
section of the cavea ; but it is more in accordance with the fond- 
ness of the ancients for display to suppose that the procession 
moved across the stage, receiving as it passed the plaudits of 
the great audience, and emerged from the entrance opposite 
that by which it came in, disbanding in the court, whence the 
members could go to their respective seats. We need not here 
raise the question whether the procession passed upon the stage 
behind the triangular side screens {periactoi), or whether these 
were set in place only after it had already passed. 

When the colonnade on the south side of the court had been 
replaced by rooms, and the Theatre Colonnade itself had been 
transformed into barracks, this route of the processions was 
blocked. They could still pass down the street in front of the 
temple of I sis, turn into Stabian Street, and reach the stage 
through the passage at the rear of the Small Theatre ; but it 
does not seem probable that they followed this course, for the 
reason that there are three large stepping stones in the street 
before one comes to the entrance of the passage ; these would 
have proved a serious obstruction, and would undoubtedly have 
been removed had the processions gone this way. 

We may rather believe that before the usual route was closed 
the processions themselves had been given up. They were still 
in vogue, however, when the Small Theatre was built ; other- 
wise the purpose of the wide entrances at the ends of the stage 
and of the room back of it is not clear. Moreover the sidewalk 



i6o POMPEII 

in front of the Small Theatre, on Stabian Street, is of an alto- 
gether unusual width, and was apparently covered by a portico. 
We infer that the procession to this theatre entered at the west 
end of the stage, and passed out at the east end ; since it could 
not disperse on the street, it would turn where the sidewalk was 
broadest, go back through the room at the rear of the stage 
into the court, and there disband. 

The discontinuance of the processions must then be assigned 
to the period between the building of the Small Theatre and 
the changing over of the Theatre Colonnade into barracks, which, 
to judge from the masonry and the remains of the decoration, 
did not take place before the time of Nero. The processions 
were abandoned either in the troubled period of the Civil Wars, 
or in the early years of the Empire ; if in the latter period, their 
discontinuance may have been due to legislation connected with 
the reorganization of the Empire under Augustus, or to the 
overshadowing of them by more imposing ceremonies intro- 
duced in connection with the religious festivals. 

Our information in regard to the later use of the Theatre 
Colonnade is indeed meagre ; not a single inscription bearing 
upon it has been found. Yet when we take into account the 
changes that were made in it, and the objects found there, the 
supposition that it was turned into barracks for gladiators in 
the time of the Early Empire, and so used till the destruction of 
the city, is seen to harmonize with almost all the facts. 

First, rooms were built on all sides behind the colonnade ; on 
the north side they took the place of the south arm of the colon- 
nade in the area back of the stage. They were in two series, 
one above the other ; the upper rooms were entered from a low 
wooden gallery accessible by three stairways. They could not 
have been intended for shops ; they were too small, measuring 
on the average hardly more than twelve feet square, and the 
doors were too narrow. There were no doors opening from one 
room into the other. Both lower and upper rooms, we may 
conclude, were used for men's quarters. 

In the middle of the south side a large room was left, with 
the front open toward the area, an exedra (6). On the east 
side was a still larger room the front of which is divided off 



THE THEATRE COLONNADE i6i 

by pillars ; other rooms open from it, and among them is one 
(lo)with several hearths, evidently intended for a mess kitchen, 
if the hearths are ancient ; they may be modern. Over these 
rooms was a second story, reached by a broad stairway (9). 

The immediate connection of the colonnade with the area 
behind the stage was now cut off by a wall (4) ; there was left 
only a small door in the corner, which could be readily fastened. 
The entrance from the passage leading to Stabian Street (2) 
was "provided with doors and placed under the control of a 
guard, for whom a special room was built at one side (3). 
There was a third entrance, narrow and easily closed, at the 
northwest corner, where a flight of steps connected the foot of 
the broad stairway (5) with the landing of the stairs leading to 
the wooden gallery. 

Thus a complete transformation was effected. The prome- 
nade for theatre-goers had become barracks, with a great number 
of cell-like rooms, a mess kitchen, and narrow, guarded entrances. 
Soldiers, however, could not have been kept here ; in the period 
to which the rebuilding belongs, garrisons were not stationed in 
the cities of Italy except the Capital. On the other hand, gladi- 
atorial combats in Pompeii were so frequent, and on so large a 
scale, that a special building for the housing and guarding of 
gladiators would seem to have been a necessity ; such a building 
would naturally have been erected by the city and placed at the 
disposal of those who gave the games. As early as the time of 
Augustus, Aulus Clodius Flaccus brought forward forty pairs 
of gladiators in a single day, and on various occasions afterwards 
as many as thirty pairs were engaged. How well the colonnade 
was now suited for gladiators' quarters may be seen from a 
glance at the plan. The area would serve as a practice court, 
the exedra on the south side (6), protected from the sun, as the 
station for the trainers and lounging room for men awaiting their 
turn ; the mess room would be the large apartment adjoining the 
kitchen (11), while the quarters of the chief trainer, Imiista, and 
his assistants, would be in the second story, reached by the broad 
stairway (9). 

The small rooms ./ere poorly decorated, in the fourth style. 
There were better paintings only in the exedra. On the rear 



l62 



POMPEII 



wall of this room was the oft repeated group of Mars and Venus; 
on the side walls, gladiatorial weapons were represented, piled 
up in heaps, after the manner of trophies, about eight feet high. 
The reference to the purpose of the building, as in the case of 
the paintings in the Macellum, is obvious. The columns about 
the area were originally white ; after the rebuilding the unfluted 
lower part was painted red, the upper part yellow. Four col- 
umns, however, two at the middle of the east side, and the two 
opposite them on the west side, were painted blue, probably to 
serve as bounds in marking off the area for athletic exercises. 

The objects found in the barracks are recorded in the journal 
of the excavations. They indicate that at the time of the erup- 
tion the rooms were occupied. Everything 
of value was removed from those on the north 
side by the survivors, but the south half was 
apparently left undisturbed, and has yielded 
a rich harvest. 

In ten rooms the excavators found a great 
quantity of weapons of the kinds used by 
gladiators, including fifteen helmets, a shield, 
greaves (Fig. 72), several broad belts 
trimmed with metal, and a couple of armlets ; 
there were more than a hundred scales of horn 
belonging to a coat of mail, and a half dozen 
shoulder protectors, galcri, which the net 
fighter, rctiarius, who carried no shield and 
was armed only with a net and a trident, wore 
on his left shoulder. The weapons were 
mostly for defence, but remains of a few 
offensive weapons were found, as the head 
of a lance, a sword, and a couple of daggers. 
In the same room with the daggers and the 
sword (perhaps 7) were the remains of two 
wooden chests containing cloth with gold thread ; this may have 
been used in gladiators' costumes. 

The helmets are characteristic (Fig. 73). They are furnished 
with a visor, and part of them have a broad rim, richly orna- 
mented with reUefs ; their shape corresponds exactly with that 




Fig. 72. — A gladiator's 
greave. 



THE THEATRE COLONNADE 



163 



of the helmets seen in paintings and rehefs representing gladia- 
torial combats. The shield, which is round and only about 
sixteen inches in diameter, would have been quite useless in 
military service. In a room under the stairs the skeleton of a 
horse was found, with remains of trappings richly mounted with 
bronze ; one class of gladiators, the equites, fought on horse- 
back. 

One of the small rooms on the west side (8) was used as 
a guard room. Here were the stocks, the remains of which are 
shown in Fig. 74 ; they were fastened 
to a board. At one end of the under 
piece was a lock, by which the bar 
passed through the rings could be 
made secure. The men confined had 
the choice of lying down or sitting in 
an uncomfortable position. The four 
persons whose skeletons were found 
in this room, however, were not in 
the stocks at the time of the erup- 
tion. That such means of discipline 
should be employed in controlling 
gladiators is entirely consistent with ancient methods. 

Besides these finds, there were others not so easily explained. 
In the two rooms in which the spearhead and the other offen- 
sive weapons were found, there were eighteen skeletons, among 
them that of a woman richly adorned with gold jewelry ; she 




Fig. 73. — A gladiator's helmet. 




Fig. 74. — Remains of stocks found in the guard room of the barracks. 



had a necklace with emeralds, earrings, and two armbands, be- 
sides rings and other ornaments, and in a casket a cameo, the 
elaborate setting of which is in part preserved. In a room near 



i64 POMPEII 

the southwest corner the bones of a new-born infant were found 
in an earthen jar. A number of weights also were discovered, 
and vessels of terra cotta and glass ; in three rooms there were 
more than six dozen small saucers. Were the barracks wholly 
given up to gladiators at the time of the eruption, or were some 
other persons allowed to have quarters here, perhaps some of 
those whose houses had been destroyed by the earthquake of 63 
and had not been rebuilt } A certain conclusion cannot be 
reached. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE PALAESTRA 

The oblong court north of the Large Theatre, between the 
entrance of the Forum Triangulare and the temple of Isis, is 
the Palaestra. Originally, the enclosed area was entirely sur- 
rounded by a colonnade, with ten columns on 

the sides and five at each end ; but at a com- IZ . . J. . . . 
paratively late period, probably after the earth- Uj ; 2 

quake of 63, the columns at the east end were p * ' T * • ' 
removed and the space thus gained was added ummet^ 

1 ITT- Fig. 75. — Plan of the 

to the temple of IsiS. Palaestra. 

A number of the columns on the other three i. colonnade, 
sides are still standinsf. They are Doric but of ''• ^^^^"^f^'- 

, 3- dressing rooms. 

slender proportions, the height, io|^ feet, be- 
ing equal to eight diameters, while the intercolumniations meas- 
ure about nine feet. It is doubtful whether the columns carried 
a complete entablature; more likely the roof rested directly on a 
wooden architrave. 

The building clearly dates from the pre-Roman period. The 
columns are of tufa coated with stucco, the dimensions of the 
colonnade (90 by 36 Oscan feet) reduce to the early standard of 
measurement ; and an Oscan inscription was found here which 
says that the building was erected by the Quaestor Vibius 
Vinicius, with money which Vibius Adiranus had left by will to 
the Pompeian youth. The translation of the word vereiiai, ' to 
the youth,' otherwise doubtful, is confirmed by various facts 
which indicate that the building was intended as a small 
palaestra or open-air gymnasium for boys. 

While the Palaestra had its original length, the entrance, 
which is now nearer the east end, was at the middle of the 
north side. Opposite it, near the colonnade on the south side, 
is a pedestal of tufa, before which stands a small table of the 

165 



i66 



POMPEII 



same stone (Fig. ^6). The pedestal is reached by narrow 
steps. Here stood a statue of the patron divinity of the Palaes- 
tra. When an athletic contest was held, the wreath intended 
for the victor was laid on the stone table before the god ; after 
the award had been made, the successful contestant took up the 
wreath and dedicated it to the divinity by mounting the steps 
and placing it on the head of the statue. It is evident from the 
height of the steps that the contestants were boys, not men. 




Fig. 76. — View of the Palaestra, with the pedestal, table, and steps. 



On the pedestal was undoubtedly a statue of Hermes, but not 
of the type which we have already met with in the court of the 
temple of Apollo (p. '^'^\ and shall find later in the palaestra of 
the Stabian Baths (p. 200) ; a base of this sort can hardly have 
been intended for a herm. No trace of the missing statue has 
been discovered. 

Another statue stood at the foot of one of the columns on the 
south side. It is a copy of the doryphorus of Polyclitus, and is 



THE PALAESTRA 



167 



now in the Naples Museum (Fig. jj). Though it has been re- 
stored, there seems no good reason to beUeve that the restoration 
is incorrect, and that the figure is really a Hermes, having orig- 
inally carried on the left shoulder a herald's staff with entwined 
snakes, caduceus^ instead of a spear. 
For the adornment of a place devoted 
to athletic exercises nothing could 
have been more appropriate than a 
copy of the doryphorus as an ideal 
of youthful strength, of harmonious 
physical development ; and the Elder 
Pliny bears witness (N. H. XXXIV. v. 
18), that it was customary to set up 
such statues in a palaestra. This 
figure had no pedestal ; it stood on 
the ground, a man among men. 

At the west end of the court were 
dressing rooms where the boys, be- 
fore exercising, could anoint them- 
selves and afterwards could remove 
the oil and dirt with the strigil ; such 
a dressing room in connection with 
a bath was called a destrictarium. 
Water was brought into the court by 
a lead pipe, which passed through 
one of the columns at the right of 
the entrance and threw a jet either 

into a basin standing below or into the gutter in front of the 
colonnade. 

It would be of interest to know what athletic exercises were 
practised in the Palaestra ; but apart from the pedestal with its 
steps and table no characteristic remains were found here. The 
exercises in the Roman period undoubtedly differed somewhat 
from those practised at the time when the building was erected, 
when the Greek system was everywhere in vogue. 




Fig. 77- — Di.M-\pli< M-us. Statue 
found in the Palaestra. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 

The loftiest and purest religious conceptions of the ancient 
Egyptians were embodied in the myth of Isis and Osiris, which 
in the third millennium B.C. had already become the basis of 
a firmly estabUshed cult. These conceptions approached the 
monotheistic idea of an omnipresent god, and with them was 
associated a belief in a blessed immortality. Isis was the god- 
dess of heaven, and Osiris was the Sun-god, her brother and 
husband, who is slain at evening by his brother Set, — the Greek 
Typhon, — ruler of darkness. Their child Horus, also called 
Harpocrates, born after the father's death, is the fresh sun of 
the new day, the successor and' avenger of his father, the con- 
queror of Set ; he becomes a new Osiris, while the father, ever 
blessed, rules in the realm of the dead, the kingdom of the 
West. Man, the followers of Isis taught, is an incarnation of 
deity, whose destiny is also his. He is himself an Osiris, and 
will enter upon a better state of existence beyond the grave if 
a favorable judgment is passed upon him in the trial given to 
the dead. 

The worship of Isis, associated with Mysteries from an early 
period, was reorganized by the first Ptolemy with the help of 
Manetho, an Egyptian priest, and Timotheus, a Greek skilled 
in the Eleusinian Mysteries. The purpose of the king was to 
unite his Egyptian and Greek subjects in one faith, and the 
effort was more successful than might have been anticipated. 
In its new Alexandrian form the worship of Isis and Osiris, or 
Serapis, as the latter divinity was now called, spread, not only 
over all Egypt, but also over the other countries in the East 
into which Greek culture had penetrated, and soon made its 
way to Italy and the West. 

Various causes contributed to the rapid extension of the cult. 

1 68 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 169 

It had the charm of somethmg foreign and full of mystery. 
Its doctrine, supported by the prestige of immemorial antiquity, 
successfully opposed the mutually destructive opinions of the 
philosophers, while at the same time its conception of deity was 
by no means inconsistent with philosophic thought ; and it 
brought to the initiated that expectation of a future life to 
which the Eleusinian Mysteries owed their attractive power. 
The ascetic side of the worship, too, with its fastings and absti- 
nence from the pleasures of sense, that the soul might lose 
itself in the mystical contemplation of deity, had a fascination 
for natures that were religiously susceptible ; and the celebra- 
tion of the Mysteries, the representation of the myth of Isis in 
pantomime with a musical accompaniment, appealed powerfully 
to the imagination. The cult also possessed elements that 
brought it nearer to the needs of the multitude. The activ- 
ities of the Egyptian divinities were not confined to the other 
world ; their help might be sought in the concerns of this life. 
Thus the chief priest could say to Apuleius that Isis sum- 
moned her elect to consecrate themselves to her service only 
when the term of life allotted to them had really expired, and 
that she lengthened their tale of years, so that all of life 
remaining was a direct gift from the hands of the goddess. 
The priests of Isis were looked upon as experts in astrology, 
the interpretation of dreams, and the conjuring of spirits. 

A college of the Servants of Isis, Pastophori, was founded in 
Rome in the time of Sulla, about 80 B.C. In vain the authori- 
ties tried to drive out the worship of the Egyptian gods. Three 
times their temple, in the midst of the city, was destroyed by 
order of the consuls, in 58, 50, and 48 B.C. But after Caesar's 
death, in 44 B.C., the triumvirs built a temple in honor of Isis 
and Osiris; and a few decades later, perhaps in the reign of 
Caligula, their festival was recognized in the pubUc Calendar. 
In Campania the Alexandrian cult gained a foothold earlier 
than in Rome. An inscription of the year 105 B.C., found at 
Puteoli, proves that a temple of Serapis was then standing in 
that enterprising city, which had close commercial relations 
with Egypt and the East. Soon after this date the earlier 
temple of Isis at Pompeii must have been built. 



I70 



POMPEII 




Fig. 78. — Plan of the temple of Isis. 



The entrance to the court of the temple (Fig. y^) is from the 
north. Above the door is an inscription which informs us that 
after an earthquake (that of the year 63) Numerius Popidius 
Celsinus, at his own expense, rebuilt the temple of Isis from the 

foundation, and that in recog- 
nition of his generosity, though 
he was only six years of age, 
the members of the city coun- 
cil, the decurions, admitted him 
without cost to their rank : 
N[umeri2is'] Popidius N[time- 
rii'] f\iliiis\ Celsinus aedem 
Isidis terrae motjt conlapsam a 
fimdamento p\ectiiiia\ s]jui\ 
restituit ; funic dec iiri ones ob 
liberalitatem, cum esset anno- 
rum sexs, ordini silo gratis ad- 
legerunt. The temple evi- 
dently belonged to the city ; 
and the places for statues in 
the court, as the inscriptions 
show, were assigned by vote of 
the city council. 
Other inscriptions give information in regard to the family of 
the child Celsinus. His father was Numerius Popidius Ampli- 
atus, his mother Corelia Celsa ; a brother bore the same name as 
the father. The real rebuilders were of course the parents ; by 
associating their munificence with the name of their son, they 
opened the way for him to the city offices, for which the father, 
a freedman, was not eligible. Ampliatus perpetuated his own 
name by setting up a statue of Bacchus in a niche in the outside 
of the rear wall of the temple (at c on the plan), with the inscrip- 
tion : N. Popidius Ampliatus pater p. s., ' Numerius Popidius 
Ampliatus the father (set up this statue) at his own expense.' 
The names of the two sons appear with that of their mother 
in the mosaic floor of the large room (6) behind the colonnade 
at the rear. 

Though the rebuilding of Celsinus was ' from the founda- 



1. Portico. 

2. Cella. 

3. Shrine of Harpocrates. 

4. Purgatorium. 

5. Hall of initiation. 

6. Hall of the Mysteries. 
7,8,9. Dwelling of priest. 
a. Colonnade. 



3. Pit for the refuse of 

sacrifices. 
c. Niche for statue of 

Bacchus. 
d,d. Niches at the sides 

of the cella. 
e. Large altar. 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 171 

tion,' remains of the old temple were utilized, as shafts of 
columns and Corinthian capitals coated with white stucco ; and 
the plan of the new building was very nearly the same as that 
of the old. The stylobate of the colonnade belongs to the 
earlier structure, but the columns originally stood nearer to- 
gether, eight instead of seven at the ends, and ten on the sides. 

The architectural forms and the workmanship of these re- 
mains point to a time just after the founding of the Roman 
colony ; nevertheless the dimensions of the colonnade, approxi- 
mately fifty by sixty Oscan feet, reduce to the pre-Roman 
standard of measurement, and the building may have been 
commenced earlier. In later times the increasing number of 
the worshippers of Isis made necessary an enlargement of the 
sanctuary. The two rooms at the west end (5 and 6) were 
added at the expense of the Palaestra, probably at the time 
of the rebuilding. 

In the middle of the court, which is surrounded by the colon- 
nade, is the temple, consisting of an oblong cella (2), the east 
side of which is treated as a front, with a portico borne by six 
columns (i). A pit for the refuse of sacrifices, enclosed by 
a wall (b) stands in the corner of the court near the entrance 
from the street ; in the opposite corner there is a larger en- 
closure having the appearance of a small temple (4). Near 
this are two altars ; a third altar stood close to the temple, and 
there are five others, somewhat smaller, between the columns. 
On the south side, between the colonnade and the Theatre, is 
a small area of irregular shape, east of which is a dwelling 
containing five rooms (7, 8, 9). 

The accompanying illustrations show the temple as it is 
to-day (Fig. 79) and as it was before the eruption (Fig. 80). 
It has architecturally nothing suggestive of the Egyptian style. 
Yet the plan presents a marked deviation from ordinary types, 
as if the builders, erecting an edifice for the worship of foreign 
gods, strove with set purpose to produce a bizarre effect ; at the 
right and the left of the front of the cella is a large niche, pro- 
jecting beyond the sides of the portico, and inorganically con- 
nected with the main part of the temple by a pilaster. In the 
ornamentation of this temple, as in that of the temple of Apollo, 



172 



POMPEII 



the simple and chaste forms of the Greek architecture were 
replaced by gaudy stucco ornaments more in harmony with 
the prevailing taste. 

Besides the broad flight of steps in front, a narrow stairway 
at the left of the temple led to a side door opening into the 
cella. A base of masonry about six feet high extends across 
the rear of the cella, on which were two pedestals of tufa, about 
sixteen inches square, for the statues of Isis and Osiris. In the 




Fig. 79. — View of the tejiiple of Isis. 

two large niches outside other divinities stood, perhaps Anubis 
and Harpocrates. The latter was apparently worshipped also 
at the shrine in the wall on the east side of the court (3), facing 
the doorway of the cella. A painting from this shrine, now in 
the Naples Museum, represents a statue of Harpocrates of the 
famihar type — a boy with his finger in his mouth holding a 
cornucopia, with a lotus blossom resting on his forehead ; before 
him stands a priest in a long white robe, holding a candlestick 
in each hand, while in the background is a temple surrounded 
by a colonnade, evidently intended for a free representation 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 



173 



of the temple before us. In front of the shrine were the 
charred remains of a wooden bench. 

No statue was found in the cella or in the two niches in front. 
We may suppose that the images of the four divinities, being 
of relatively small size, were carried off by the priests at the 
time of the eruption ; had they been removed afterwards, the 
excavators would have taken also the other objects in the cella 
used in the services of the temple. Among these were two 
skulls, probably made use of in the ceremonies attending ini- 




Fig. 80. — The temple of Isis, restored. In the background, the Large Theatre. 



tiation into the Mysteries, and a marble hand, about four inches 
long, but whether a right or a left hand, the journal of the 
excavations does not say. A left hand was carried in the pro- 
cession in honor of Isis, described by Apuleius ; as the weaker 
of the two, and so less ready to do evil, it symbolized the even 
justice (aeqtiitas) with which the deity governs the world. 
There were also two wooden caskets, one of which contained 
a diminutive gold cup, measuring less than an inch across the 
top, a glass vessel a trifle over an inch and a half in height, and 
a statuette of a god about half as high ; in the other were two 



174 POMPEII 

bronze candlesticks about ten inches high, the use of which 
may be inferred from the painting described above, and a 
bronze lamp with places for two wicks. 

The walls of the colonnade were painted in bright colors on 
a deep red ground. The lower part of the columns was red, 
but above they were white ; the temple also was white, the 
purpose obviously being to give the appearance of marble. 
Nevertheless the same decorative framework appears both in 
the white stucco of the temple and the painted decoration of 
the colonnade: a division of the body of the wall into large 
panels, with a continuous garland of conventional plant forms 
above. In the colonnade there was a yellow base, treated as 
a projecting architectural member ; above it large red panels 
alternated with light, fantastic architectural designs in yellow 
on a red ground. The frieze was black, with garlands in strong 
contrast — green, blue, and yellow — enlivened with all sorts 
of animal forms. In the middle of each of the large panels 
was a priest of Isis ; in the lower part of the intervening archi- 
tectural designs were marine pictures, — galleys maneuvring, 
and seafights. Similar pictures are found in other buildings, 
as the Macellum, but marine views were especially appropriate 
here, because Isis was a patron divinity of seamen. Apuleius 
gives an interesting description of the spring festival, by which 
the navigation of the opening season was committed to her 
guardian care. 

Opposite the entrance of the temple the colonnade presents 
an interesting pecuUarity of construction, which is found also in 
other buildings at Pompeii, as the Stabian Baths. The place 
of the three middle columns on that side is taken by two large 
pillars, higher than the rest of the colonnade, each of which is 
backed by an attached half-column. This arrangement made 
the approach to the temple more imposing, and also furnished 
an appropriate setting for the shrine of Harpocrates against 
the wall. 

The principal altar, on which sacrifice was offered to the 
divinities worshipped in the temple, is that near the foot of 
the steps in front (e). The officiating priest stood on a block 
of stone at the side of it, with the temple at his right ; on this 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 175 

altar were found ashes and fragments of calcined bones. The 
two smaller altars near by were probably consecrated to the 
gods whose images were placed in the exterior niches. 

Two rectangular pits were used as receptacles for the refuse 
of sacrifices. One was quite small, and no trace of it can now 
be found ; it was near the large altar, and contained remains of 
burnt figs, pine kernels and cones, nuts, and dates, with frag- 
ments of two statuettes representing divinities. The wall about 
the other {b), when excavated, was built up at each end in the 
form of a gable, and evidently once supported a wooden roof ; 
in this pit also were charred remains of fruits. What divinities 
were worshipped at the altars between the columns, it is impos- 
sible to determine. The small base standing against the corner 
column near the entrance (seen in Fig. 79) was probably a 
pedestal, not an altar. 

At the left of the steps leading up to the temple, and facing 
the large altar, is a small pillar of masonry fifteen inches square 
and nearly two and a half feet high. A similar pillar, which 
formerly stood at the right, had thin slabs of stone on three 
sides. One of these, that on the front of the pillar (now in 
the Naples Museum), was covered with hieroglyphics. It is 
a memorial tablet, which Hat, ' the writer of the divine word,' 
Jiierograniinateiis, set up in honor of his parents and grand- 
parents ; it contains symbolic representations in three divisions, 
one above the other. In the upper division Hat, his brother 
and colleague Meran, their father and grandfather, are praying 
to Osiris, ' Lord of the Kingdom of the Dead ' ; below. Hat is 
bringing to his parents and grandparents offerings for the dead, 
while in the lower division Meran and two sisters unite with 
him in prayer to Osiris. The tablet could hardly have been 
designed for a temple, but still, by reason of its contents, it was 
considered appropriate for this place. It was doubtless in- 
tended that a similar tablet should be afifixed to the pillar at 
the left, but perhaps none happened to be available ; statuettes 
of divinities were probably placed on the pillars. 

The presence of a statue of Bacchus in the niche in the rear wall 
of the cella is easily explained ; this divinity was identified with 
Osiris. Two ears are moulded in the stucco beside the niche, 



176 POMPEII 

symbolic of the listening of the god to the prayers of his wor- 
shippers. 

Against the west wall of the colonnade, near the corners, 
were two pedestals, with statues of female divinities about one 
half life size. At the right was Isis, in archaic Greek costume, 
with the inscription : L. Caecilius Phoehis posiiit l\oco\ d{_ato\ 
d\_eciiriomnn'] d\_ccreto'], 'Set up by Lucius Caecilius Phoebus, 
in a place granted by a decree of the city council ' ; the 
name indicates that the donor was a freedman. The other 
statue, at the left, represents Venus drying her hair after the 
bath ; it is of a common type and possesses small value as a 
work of art, yet is of interest because of the well preserved 
painting and gilding. Venus, as many other goddesses, was 
identified with Isis. 

In the same corner with the statue of Venus, against the 
south wall, stood the herm of Gains Norbanus Sorex, a marble 
pillar with a bronze head. According to the inscription, he was 
an actor who played the second part {^secundarnni, sc. parthini), 
and was also magister of the suburb Pagus Augustus Felix. 
He was probably a generous supporter of the temple. A dupli- 
cate of the herm is found in the Eumachia building, to which 
also he may have made a contribution. The low social stand- 
ing of the various benefactors of the temple is noteworthy ; it 
indicates in what circles the worship of the Egyptian divinities 
found its adherents. As yet this was by no means an aristo- 
cratic cult, although it became such later, especially after the 
time of Hadrian. 

While the Greek and Roman gods were honored chiefly at 
their festivals, the Egyptian divinities demanded worship every 
day, indeed several times a day. The early service, the ' open- 
ing of the temple,' is described by Apuleius, who was probably 
admitted to the college of the Servants of Isis in Rome in the 
time of the Antonines, and wrote about i6o a.d. Before day- 
break the priest went into the temple by the side entrance and 
threw back the great doors, which were fastened on the inside. 
White linen curtains were hung across the doorway, shielding 
the interior from view. Now the street gate of the court was 
opened ; the thronging multitude of the devout streamed in and 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 



177 



took their places in front of the temple. The curtains were 
drawn aside and the image of the goddess was presented to the 
gaze of her worshippers, who greeted her with prayers and 
shaking of the sistrum, a musical rattle, the use of which was 
characteristic of the worship of the Egyptian gods. For a time 




Fig. 81. — Scene from the worship of Isis — the adoration of the holy water. Wall 
painting from Herculaneum. 

they remained sitting, engaged in prayer and in the contempla- 
tion of the divinity ; an hour after daybreak the service was 
closed with an invocation to the newly risen sun. This descrip- 
tion throws Hght on the purpose of the bench in front of the 
shrine of Harpocrates. 

The second service was held at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
but we do not possess exact information in regard to it. It is. 



178 POMPEII 

perhaps, depicted in a fresco painting from Herculaneum (Fig. 
8 1), the subject of which is a solemn act in the worship of Isis, 
the adoration of the holy water. In the portico of the temple, 
above the steps, two priests and a priestess are standing. The 
priest in the middle holds in front of him, in the folds of his 
robe, a vessel containing the holy water, which was supposed to 
be from the Nile ; his two associates are shaking the sistrum. 
There is an altar at the foot of the steps ; a priest is fanning 
the fire into flame. On the right and the left of the altar 
are the worshippers, with other priests, part of whom are shak- 
ing the sistrum, while a fluteplayer sits in the foreground at 
the right. 

Another painting, the counterpart of that just described, 
seems to portray the celebration of a festival ; the surroundings 
correspond fairly well with those of our temple. The doors are 
thrown back ; a dark-visaged man, wearing a wreath, is dancing 
in the doorway. Behind him, within the temple, are the musi- 
cians, among whom can be distinguished a girl striking the 
cymbals and a woman with a tambourine. About the steps are 
priests and other worshippers, shaking the sistrum and offering 
prayer ; in front stands a burning altar. An important festival 
of Isis occurred in November. It commenced with an impas- 
sioned lamentation over the death of Osiris and the search for 
his body. On the third day, November 12, the finding of the 
body by Isis was celebrated with great rejoicing. So, perhaps, 
in this painting the dance is a manifestation of the joy with 
which the festival ended, the whole picture being a scene from 
the observance of the Egyptian Easter. 

In such celebrations use would be made of the small brazier 
of bronze found in the court in front of our temple, on which 
incense could be burned. The ablutions, which played so 
important a part in Egyptian rites, were performed in the rear 
of the court, where stood a cylindrical leaden vessel, adorned 
with Egyptian figures in relief; a jet fell into it from a lead 
pipe connected with the city aqueduct. 

The small building at the southeast corner of the court, which 
is known as the Purgatorium, was open to the sky. It was 
made to look Hke a roofed structure by the addition of gables 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 



179 



at the ends. On the inside, at the rear, a flight of steps leads 
down toward the right to a vaulted underground chamber, about 
five feet wide and six and a half feet long. The inner part of 
the chamber, divided off by a low wall, was evidently intended 
for a tank. In one of the corners in the front part is a low 
base, on which a jar could be set while it was being filled. 
Here the holy Nile water — more or less genuine — was kept 
for use in the sacred rites. 

The purpose of the tank is suggested by certain of the stucco 
reliefs on the outside of the enclosing wall. In the gable, above 
the entrance, is a vase, standing out from a blue ground, with a 
kneeling figure on either side. The frieze contains Egyptian 
priests and priestesses, also on 
a blue ground, with their faces 
turned toward the vessel (Fig. 
82). The figures are all wor- 
shipping the sacred water in 
the vase. 

Of the other figures in relief, 
only the two goddesses in the 
panels at the sides of the en- 
trance have an Egyptian char- 
acter. Under each of them 
was a small altar of tufa, at- 
tached to the wall ; the figure 
at the left (Fig. 82) is plainly 
Isis. 

The side walls are decorated 
with reUefs in Greco-Roman 
style. They are divided into 
a large middle panel, containing 
two figures, and two side panels, 
each with a Cupid. In the ^^s 
middle panel, on the right side, 
Mars and Venus are represented 
rescuing Andromeda (Fig. 8;^). 

The dwelling back of the colonnade, on the south side, con- 
sists of a kitchen (8), a dining room (7), a sleeping apartment (9), 




2. — Part of the facade of the Purgato- 
rium. 

in that at the left, Perseus 



i8o 



POMPEII 



and two small rooms at the rear, under the stairway leading to 
the highest seats of the Large Theatre. The ritual of the 
Egyptian gods was so exacting, and the services of worship 
were so numerous, that it was necessary for one or more priests 
to reside within the precincts of the temple. These rooms were 
the habitation of a priest. 

One of the rooms on the west side (6) is oblong in shape, 
with five broad, arched entrances opening from the colonnade. 
The walls were richly decorated in the last Pompeian style. 
There were seven large paintings, five of which were land- 




Fig. 83. — Decoration of the east side of the Purgatorium — Perseus rescuing Andromeda. 
At the right and the left floating Cupids, the one at the left bearing a box of incense. 



scapes with shrines, part being Egyptian landscapes ; the other 
two represent lo watched by Argus, with Hermes coming to 
rescue her, and lo in Egypt, received by Isis. Against the rear 
wall was a pedestal, on which probably stood the female figure, 
above life size, the remains of which were found in one of the 
entrances. Only the head, the hands, and the front parts of 
the feet were of marble ; the rest w^as of wood, no doubt con- 
cealed by drapery. The priests seemingly had started to carry 
the statue with them when they fled, but abandoned the attempt 
at the doorway. In the same room a marble table, a sistrum, 
two pots of terra cotta, three small glass bottles, and a glass 
cup were found. We may safely conclude that here the common 



THE TEMPLE OF ISIS i8i 

meals were served, of which, as we learn from Apuleius, the 
devotees of the cult partook. And when, in connection with 
the great festivals, the Mysteries were celebrated with a presen- 
tation of the myth of Isis and Osiris in pantomime, this large 
room was well adapted for the sacred exhibitions. 

The adjoining room, at the southwest corner of the colonnade 
(5), is irregular in shape and of an entirely different character. 
It seems to have been regarded as a sacred place, and to have 
been used for secret ceremonies. It was entered from the col- 
onnade by a narrow door, which could be securely fastened. 
Large, sketchy pictures of gods were painted on the walls on a 
white ground, — Isis, Osiris, Typhon, — with sacred animals 
and symbols relating to the myth which to us are unintelligible. 
The excavators found here the remains of four wooden statues 
with marble heads, hands, and feet, one of a male figure, the 
other three female ; there were besides a statuette of an Egyp- 
tian god made of green stone, on which were hieroglyphics ; a 
statuette of white clay, covered with a green glaze ; a sphinx of 
terra cotta, fragments of terra cotta statuettes of Egyptian 
figures, different kinds of vessels of clay, glass, and lead, and a 
bronze knife, evidently intended for use in sacrifices. At the 
left near the entrance is a small reservoir, reached by three 
steps. On the north side is a niche that apparently formed 
part of a small shrine. 

A kind of alcove opens off from the southeast corner of this 
room, the entrance to which could be closed by a curtain. From 
this a few steps and a door led into a storeroom, in which were 
found about three dozen vessels of various shapes, an iron tripod, 
and no less than fifty-eight earthen lamps. The lamps were in 
part provided with iron rings, so that the}' could be suspended ; 
there were also iron rods, which the excavators supposed to 
be lamp holders. A rear door connected the storeroom with 
the small area of irregular shape between the Palaestra and the 
Theatre. 

These arrangements suggest the celebration of secret rites 
by night ; we may well believe that novdces were here initiated 
into the order of the Servants of Isis. Obscure hints in regard 
to the ceremonies connected with the consecration to the ser- 



i82 POMPEII 

vice of the goddess are thrown out by Apuleius. ' The initia- 
tion,' said the priest to him, ' is conducted under the image of 
a voluntary death, with the renewing of life as a gift from the 
deity.' Of his own experience he says merely : ' I came to 
the borders of death, I trod the threshold of Proserpina, then 
came back through all the stages to life. In the middle of the 
night I saw the sun shine brightly ; I entered into the imme- 
diate presence of the gods above and the gods below, and wor- 
shipped them face to face.' 

Renunciation of past life, and a second birth to a new and 
purified existence, were the main ideas underlying the cere- 
monies, which as presented here must have been far less 
splendid and impressive than in Rome, where they were 
witnessed by Apuleius. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS MILICHIUS 



^ 



^ 



Fig. 84. 



Plan of the temple of Zeus 

Milichius. 
Colonnade. 

Court, with large altar. 
Cella. 
Sacristan's room. 



The small temple near the northeast corner of the block con- 
taining the theatres is entered from Stabian Street. The court 
(Fig. 84, 2), like that of the temple of Vespasian, has a colonnade 
across the front ; only the founda- 
tion and a Doric capital of lava are 
preserved. 

At the end of the colonnade on 
the right is the room of the sacris- 
tan (4). The large altar (Fig. 251) 
stands close to the foot of the steps 
leading up to the temple. It is 
built of blocks of tufa, with a frieze 
of triglyphs and panels like those 
found on walls in the first style of decoration. 

The steps extend across the front of the temple, the unusual 
elevation of which is explained by the inequality of the ground. 
Of the six columns in the tetrastyle portico no remains have 
been found, but three capitals of pilasters are preserved, two 
belonging to those at the corners of the cella, and one, consid- 
erably smaller, to a doorpost ; they are of tufa, and were once 
covered with white stucco. 

The excellent proportions and fine workmanship of the capi- 
tals point to the period of the first style of decoration ; there 
was formerly a remnant of that style on the north wall of the 
cella, copied before 1837. Nevertheless the quasi-reticulate 
masonry of the cella, closely resembling that of the Small 
Theatre, dates from the early years of the Roman colony. In 
this period the temple in its present form was built, perhaps 
with the help of native Pompeian masons. 

183 



1 84 



POMPEII 



Attached to the rear wall of the cella was an oblong pedestal 
on which were placed two statues, representing Jupiter and 
Juno, together with a bust of Minerva, all of terra cotta and of 
poor workmanship. The suggestion at once presents itself that 
this was the Capitolium, erected by the Roman colonists soon 
after they settled in Pompeii. It is incredible, however, that 
colonists who had the means to erect monumental buildings, 
such as the Amphitheatre and the Small Theatre, should have 
housed the great gods of the Capitol in so modest a temple, 
in so inconspicuous a spot, and should not have provided more 
costly images. 

All the evidence is in favor of the explanation, already 
proposed (p. 66), that after the earthquake the worship of 

the gods of the Capitol was 
transferred hither temporarily 
from the temple in the Forum, 
until that should be rebuilt. 

What divinity thus became 
the host of the Roman gods ? 
It would be impossible to say 
but for the fortunate recovery 
of an Oscan inscription, which 
was set up in the passage of 
the Stabian Gate. This com- 
memorates the work of two 
aediles, M. Sittius and N. Pontius, who improved the street 
leading out from the Stabian Gate ' as far as the Stabian 
Bridge, and the Via Pompeiana as far as the temple of Zeus 
Milichius ; these streets, as well as the Via Jovia (and another, 
the name of which cannot be made out) they placed in perfect 
repair.' 

It is natural to suppose that the Via Pompeiana, mentioned 
in immediate connection with the road leading to Stabiae, was 
the continuation of the latter within the city, or Stabian Street. 
This, then, led to the temple named in the inscription, and as 
there is no other temple on the street, the small sanctuary in 
which the images of the Capitoline divinities were placed was 
the temple of Zeus Milichius. 




Fig. 85. — Capital of pilaster with the 
face of Zeus Milichius. 



THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS MILICHIUS 185 

This building, however, is not old enough to have been men- 
tioned in an Oscan inscription. It probably stands in the place 
of a much earlier edifice. The masonry of the wall on the south 
side of the court is different from that of the other walls, and 
older ; as it shows no trace of a cross wall, it must always have 
stood at the side of an open space, such as that of the present 
court. To the earlier building the capitals belong, the style of 
which, as remarked above, is pre-Roman. 

In view of this explanation, we should probably recognize in 
the head carved on the smallest of the pilaster capitals (Fig. 85) 
a representation of Zeus Milichius, a divinity honored in many 
parts of Greece, especially by the farmers ; Zeus the Gracious, 
the patron of tillers of the soil. The serious, kindly face, bearded 
and with long locks, was more than a mere ornament ; it was the 
god himself looking down upon the worshipper who entered his 
sanctuary. As a representation of Zeus it probably exemplifies 
an ancient type. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE BATHS AT POMPEIL — THE STAB I AN BATHS 

In comparison with the great bathing estabhshments of 
Rome, the baths at Pompeii are of moderate size. They have, 
however, a special interest, due in part to their excellent pres- 
ervation, in part to the certainty with which the purpose of the 
various rooms can be determined ; and their remains enable 
us to trace the development of the public bath in a single city 
during a period of almost two hundred years. From this 
source, moreover, most of our knowledge of the arrangements 
of the ancient bath is derived, without which the imposing but 
barren remains of Rome itself would be for the most part unin- 
telligible. It is not easy for one living under present conditions 
to understand how important a place the baths occupied in the 
life of antiquity, particularly of the Romans under the Empire ; 
they offered, within a single enclosure, opportunities for physi- 
cal care and comfort and leisurely intercourse with others, not 
unUke those afforded in the cities of modern Europe by the 
club, the cafe, and the promenade. 

Though the Roman baths differed greatly in size and in 
details of arrangement, the essential parts were everywhere 
the same. First there was a court, palaestra, surrounded by 
a colonnade. This was devoted to gymnastic exercises, and con- 
nected with it in most cases was an open-air swimming tank. 
The dressing room, apodytermviy was usually entered from the 
court through a passageway or anteroom. A basin for cold 
baths was sometimes placed in the dressing room ; in large 
establishments a separate apartment was set aside for this pur- 
pose, the frigidarium. To avoid too sudden a change of tem- 
perature for the bathers, a room moderately heated, tepidarium, 
was placed between the dressing room and the caldaruim, in 
which hot baths were given. At one end of the caldarium was 

i86 



THE STABIAN BATHS 187 

a bath basin of masonry, alvcus ; at the other was ordinarily 
a semicircular niche, schola, in which stood the laln'iini, a large, 
shallow, circular vessel resting upon a support of masonry, and 
supplied with lukewarm water by a pipe leading from a tank 
back of the furnace. The more extensive establishments, as 
the Central Baths at Pompeii, contained also a round room, 
called Lacofiiciim from its Spartan origin, for sweating baths 
in dry air. In describing baths it is more convenient to use the 
ancient names. 

In earlier times the rooms w^ere heated by means of braziers, 
and in one of the Pompeian baths the tepidarium was warmed 
in this way to the last. A more satisfactory method was 
devised near the beginning of the first century b.c. by Sergius 
Grata, a famous epicure, whose surname is said to have been 
given to him because of his fondness for golden trout {aiiratae). 
He was the first to plant artificial oyster beds in the Lucrine 
Lake, and the experiment was so successful that he derived a 
large income from them ; we may assume that he turned an 
honest penny also by his invention of the * hanging baths,' 
balneae pensiles, with which his name has ever since been asso- 
ciated. These w^ere built with a hollow^ space under the floor, 
the space being secured by making the floor of tiles, two feet 
square, supported at the corners by small brick pillars (Fig. 88); 
into this space hot air was introduced from the furnace, and as 
the floor became warm, the temperature of the room above was 
evenly modified. 

This improved method of heating was not long restricted to 
the floors. As early as the Republican period, the hollow space 
was extended to the walls by means of small quadrangular 
flues and by the use of nipple tiles, tcgulae mammatae, large 
rectangular tiles with conical projections, about two inches 
high, at each corner ; these were laid on their edges, with the 
projections pressed against the wall, thus leaving an air space 
on the inside. 

In bathing establishments designed for both men and women, 
the two caldariums were placed near together. There was 
a single furnace, hypocausis, where the water for the baths was 
warmed ; from this also hot air was conveyed through broad 



1 88 POMPEII 

flues under the floors of both caldariums, thence circulating 
through the walls. Through similar flues underneath, the warm 
air, already considerably cooled, was conveyed from the hollow 
spaces of the caldariums into those of the tepidariums. In 
order to maintain a draft strong enough to draw the hot air 
from the furnace under the floors, the air spaces of the walls 
had vents above, remains of which may still be seen in some 
baths. These vents were no doubt sufficient to keep up the 
draft after the rooms had once been heated ; but in order to 
warm them at the outset a draft fire was needed, — that is, a small 
fire under the floor at some point a considerable distance from 
the furnace and near the vents, through which it would cause 
the escape of warm air, and so start a hot current from the 
furnace. The place of the dri^ft fire has been found under two 
rooms of the Pompeian baths ; and a similar arrangement has 
been noted in the case of Roman baths excavated in Germany. 

The use of the baths varied according to individual taste and 
medical advice. In general, however, bathers availed themselves 
of one of three methods. 

The most common form of the bath was that taken after 
exercise in the palaestra, — ball playing was a favorite means of 
exercise, — use being made of all the rooms. The bather un- 
dressed in the apodyterium, or perhaps in the tepidarium, 
where he was rubbed with unguents ; then he took a sweat in 
the caldarium, following it with a warm bath. Returning to 
the apodyterium, he gave himself a cold bath either in this 
room or in the frigidarium ; he then passed into the Laconicum, 
or, if there was no Laconicum, went back into the caldarium for 
a second sweat ; lastly, before going out, he was thoroughly 
rubbed with unguents, as a safeguard against taking cold. 

Some bathers omitted the warm bath. They passed through 
the tepidarium directly into the Laconicum or caldarium, where 
they had a sweat ; they then took a cold bath, or had cold water 
poured over them, and were rubbed with unguents. 

In the simplest form of the bath the main rooms were not 
used at all. The bathers heated themselves with exercise in 
the palaestra, then removed the dirt and oil with scrapers, 
strigiles, and bathed in the swimming tank. 



THE STABIAN BATHS 189 

Up to the present time three piibHc baths have been excavated 
in Pompeii, two for both men and women, one for men only. 
Besides these there are two private establishments in the eighth 
Region (VIII. ii. 17 and 23), one perhaps for men, the other for 
women ; and another, apparently for men, was discovered in the 
eighteenth century near the Amphitheatre and covered up again, 
being a part of the villa of Julia Felix. It is quite possible that 
two or three more bathing establishments yet await excavation; 
one at least, connected with a warm spring, is known to us from 
an inscription — that of M. Crassus Frugi. About a dozen 
houses also contain complete baths for private use. 

The largest and oldest bathing establishment at Pompeii is 
that to which the name Stabian Baths has been given, from its 
location on Stabian Street. It was built in the second century 
B.C., but was remodelled in the early days of the Roman colony, 
and afterwards underwent extensive repairs. It is of irregular 
shape, and occupies a large part of a block, having streets on 
three sides ; on the north side it is bounded by the house of 
Siricus. Opening upon two of the streets are shops, which 
have nothing to do with the baths and are not numbered on the 
plan (Fig. 86). 

Entering from the south through the broad doorway at A, we 
find ourselves in the palaestra, C, which has a colonnade on three 
sides. On the west side the place of the colonnade is taken by 
a strip of smooth pavement with a raised margin ; two heavy 
stone balls were found here, which were obviously used in a 
game resembling the modern ninepins ; at the further end is 
the room for the players, K. Close to the bowling course, at 
the middle of the west side, is the swimming tank, F, with 
rooms (E, G) adjoining it at either end. At the corner near 
the further room, G, is a side entrance, L ; J is the office 
of the director or superintendent in charge of the building. 

On the east side of the court are the men's baths, rooms I- 
VIII ; north of these are the women's baths, rooms 1-6, with 
the furnace room, IX, between them. In the northwest corner 
of the building were small rooms (e-e) intended for private 
baths. They had not been provided wdth the improved heating 



190 



POMPEII 




?fiM 



Fig. 86. 



arrangements, and were not in use at the time of the catastrophe. 
The larger room adjoining (/-) was a closet. 

The anteroom of the men's baths (IV), opens at one end into 
the dressing room or apodyterium (VI), as seen in Plate V. It 
has a vaulted ceiling, richly decorated. A door at the left leads 

into the frigidarium (V), 
and another at the right 
into a servants' waiting 
room (I), which is acces- 
sible from the court. 
This room was formerly 
entered also from the 
street, through a passage 
(III), which was later 
closed ; on one side of 
it is a bench of masonry 
for the slaves in attend- 
ance upon their masters. 
Similar benches are 
found in the waiting 
room at the other end 
of the apodyterium (X). 
The apodyterium also 
was provided with 
benches of the same sort, 
as indicated on the plan ; they are shown in Plate V. Along the 
walls at the sides, just under the edge of the vaulted ceiling, was 
a row of small niches, the use of which corresponded with that 
of the lockers in a modern gymnasium. These niches are about 
5| feet above the floor, while those in the other dressing room 
(2) are a little less than five feet; from this difference in height 
it has been rightly inferred that the smaller and simpler division 
of the baths was set aside for women. The floor is paved with 
rectangular flags of gray marble, with blocks of basalt next to 
the walls. While the walls were left simply white, with a red 
base, the ceiling was elaborately decorated with stucco reliefs in 
the style prevalent shortly before the destruction of the city 
there are vestiges of similar decoration in the tepidarium 



A. Main entrance. 

B. Colonnade. 
I-VIII. Men's baths. 

IV. Anteroom, 
v. Frigidarium 
VI. Apodyterium 
VII. Tepidarium. 
VIII. Caldarium. 



Plan of the Stabian Baths. 
C. Palaestra. 
F. Swimming tank. 
IX. Furnace room. 
1-6. Women's baths. 

1. 5. Entrances. 

2. Apodyterium. 

3. Tepidarium. 

4. Caldarium. 



In 



THE STABIAN BATHS 



191 



octagonal, hexagonal, and quadrangular panels are rosettes, 
Cupids, trophies, and bacchic figures. The lunettes are adorned 
with fantastic architectural designs, in which we see bacchic 
figures standing on pedestals, and Cupids riding on dolphins ; 
the sides of the two arches supporting the ceiling (one of them 
is seen in Plate V) are decorated with female figures mounted 
on dolphins, which run out into arabesques. The frequent sug- 
gestion of water in these motives is in harmony with the purpose 
of the room. 

Even more effective is the decoration of the small round frigi- 
darium. Light is admitted, as in the Pantheon at Rome, through 
a round hole in the 
apex of the domed 
ceiling. At the edge 
of the circular bath 
basin, lined with white 
marble, was a narrow 
strip of marble floor, 
which is extended into 
the four semicircular 
niches. Wall and 
niches alike are 
painted to represent 
a beautiful garden, 
with a blue sky above 
(Fig. 8y). The eye 

wanders among trees and shrubs, catching glimpses of birds 
overhead, of statues and vases here and there in the midst of 
the green foliage, and of jets of water falling into circular basins. 
The blue dome is studded with stars. The bather could scarcely 
feel the narrowness of a room, the decoration of which was so 
suggestive of expanse and open air. A jet of water fell into 
the basin from a small niche in the upper part of the wall ; and 
the place of the overflow pipe may be easily recognized. 

The tepidarium (VII) and caldarium (VIII) were heated by 
means of hollow floors and walls. The former is much the 
smaller, as we should have expected from its use as an interme- 
diate room, in which the bathers would ordinarily not tarry so 




Fig 87. — Stabian Baths mteiior of the frigidarium, 
restored. 



192 POMPEII 

long as in the caldarium. The large bath basin at the east end 
(indicated on the plan) is unusual ; it was seemingly a later 
addition, and was probably made to accommodate those who in 
the winter shrank from using the frigidarium, but wished never- 
theless to take a moderately cold bath. Near the bottom of the 
wall back of this basin, a hole had been made so that underneath 
a fire could be kindled from the outside (in X), not in order to 
heat the basin, which could be supplied with warm water by 
means of a pipe, but to start the circulation of hot air from the 
furnace ; at the top of the wall above were two vents opening 
from the warm air chamber. There was a place for another 
draft fire under the women's caldarium. 

One of the fragments of stucco relief still remaining in the 
tepidarium presents the figure of a man reading from a roll of 
manuscript. It suggests the standing complaint of the ancients 
in regard to the trials of bathers, who could not escape the ever- 
present poet declaiming his latest production. 

At one end of the caldarium we find the bath basin, alveus ; 
at the other is the support of the labrum, which has disappeared. 
In the niche above the latter are two vents for the draft, and 
above the niche was a round window. This room, as most of the 
others, was dimly lighted. The little round window of the ante- 
room is shown in our plate. There were two similar windows 
in the lunette of the apodyterium, above the roof of the ante- 
room ; they are not seen in our plate, having at one time been en- 
tirely covered up by the construction of a wall to support the 
roof. A similar window was very likely placed at the end of 
the tepidarium, over the roof of the frigidarium ; and perhaps 
these were supplemented by holes in the crown of the arched 
ceilings, as in the women's apodyterium. 

The women's baths are entered from the court through a long 
anteroom (6) ; the dressing room is connected also with the two 
side streets by means of corridors (i, 5). Originally there was no 
communication between the women's baths and the palaestra. 

The apodyterium (2) is the best preserved room of the entire 
building, and also the most ancient. It shows almost no traces 
of the catastrophe. The vaulted ceiling is intact. The smooth, 
white stucco on the walls and the simple cornice at the base of 



THE STABL\N BATHS 193 

the lunettes date from the time of the first builders. Now, as 
then, light is admitted only through two small openings in the 
crown of the vault and a window in the west lunette. To a 
modern visitor the interior seems gloomy. The pavement, of 
lozenge-shaped, reddish glazed tiles, belongs to the same early 
period. There is a strip of basaltic flags connecting the door 
of one of the corridors (i) with that of the tepidarium. This 
much travelled path seems to indicate that many ladies — par- 
ticularly, we may assume, in the winter — went at once into the 
more comfortable tepidarium without stopping in the dressing 
room. Along the walls were benches, and above them niches, 
as in the men's apodyterium. In the time of the Empire the 
fronts of the niches, finely carved in tufa, were overlaid with a 
thick coating of stucco, the upper part being ornamented with 
designs in relief. 

The women had no frigidarium. A large basin for cold baths 
was built at the west end of the dressing room, but this also is 
a later addition ; before it was made, those w^ho wished for cold 
baths must have contented themselves with portable bath tubs. 

The tepidarium (3) and caldarium (4) are in a better state of 
preservation than those of the men's baths, which they so closely 
resemble in all their arrangements that a detailed description is 
unnecessary. In their present form they are not so ancient as 
the apodyterium, and the decoration is less elaborate than that 
of the corresponding rooms on the other side. 

The labrum is intact, a round, shallow basin of white marble 
resting on a support of masonry ; it has here no separate niche. 
The bath basin in the caldarium also retains its veneering of 
white marble, with an overflow pipe of bronze at the upper 
edge ; it is about two feet deep. In such basins the bathers 
leaned against the sloping back, which for this reason was 
called a cushion {pulviiius) by Vitruvius. This alveus would 
accommodate eight bathers, that in the men's caldarium per- 
haps ten. Places were probably assigned in numerical order, 
each bather awaiting his turn. Those who did not wish 
to wait, or preferred to bathe by themselves, might use indi- 
vidual bath tubs of bronze. Remains of such a tub, as well as 
of bronze benches, were found in this room. Near the bottom 



94 



POMPEII 



of the alveus in front is an opening, through which the water 
could be let out ; when it was emptied, the water ran over the 
white mosaic floor, which was thus cleaned. 

In the time of the Early Empire it became the fashion to bathe 
with very warm water. ' People want to be parboiled,' Seneca 
exclaims. The construction of the alveus, however, was not well 
adapted to conserve the heat, and an ingenious contrivance was 
devised to remedy the difficulty, which may best be explained with 
the help of our illustration, showing the arrangement of the bath 
basin in room 4 (Fig. ^S). A large hot air flue, D, led directly 
from the furnace to the hollow space, C, under the alveus, A. 
Above this flue was a long bronze heater, B, in the form of a 





Fig. 



■The bath basin in the women's caldarium — longitudinal and transverse sec- 
tions, showing the arrangement for heating the water. 

A. Bath basin, alveus. C. Hot air chamber under the floor. 

B. Bronze heater. D. Hot air flue. 



half cylinder, with one end opening into the end of the alveus. 
As the bottom of the heater was six inches lower than that of 
the alveus, the cooler water from the basin would flow down 
into it and be heated again, a circulation being thus maintained. 

A similar arrangement (called testiido alvei by Vitruvius) 
probably existed for the alveus in the caldarium on the other 
side ; but that part of the men's baths has been destroyed. 
Only one other heater of this kind has been found, — and that 
much smaller, — in a villa near Boscoreale, recently excavated ; but 
the semicircular opening made for the heater above the hot air 
flue may be seen in the Central Baths, in a private establishment 
at Pompeii, and generally in the remains of Roman baths. 

In the furnace room {praefiirniinn, IX) between the two cal- 
dariums, stood tliree large cylindrical tanks. They have disap- 



THE STABIAN BATHS 195 

peared, but their outlines can still be seen in the masonry of 
the foundations, and are shown in our plan. The one furthest 
east was for hot water. It was directly over the fire, and con- 
nected with the bath basins of the two caldariums. The next, 
for lukewarm water, stood over a hollow space opening into the 
furnace. A lead pipe leading from it to the labrum of the 
women's caldarium is still to be seen ; the water bubbled up in 
the middle of the labrum. The third and largest reservoir, for 
cold water, was placed on a foundation of solid masonry. 

The more important alterations made in the baths during the 
two centuries that they were in use had to do with the arrange- 
ments for heating, and may briefly be considered here before 
we proceed to another part of the building. It will be best not 
to weary the reader with details, but to present a brief sum- 
mary of conclusions, which will perhaps be found of interest, 
not only as casting light on the gradual development of these 
baths, but also as illustrating that adjustment of public build- 
ings to the needs and tastes of successive generations, which 
was as characteristic of ancient as it is of modern hfe. 

For the extensive changes made in the earlier part of the 
first century B.C. we have the evidence of an inscription, which 
had been cast aside and was found in one of the smaller rooms. 
It reads, C. Uulijts C.f., P. Anmiiis C.f., 11 v. i. d., Lacoiiiciivi 
et de strict ariiLin faciimd. et porticus et pala6Str[am~\ reficmnda 
locarimt ex d\ec7trionu'm\ d[ec7^eto] ex eapequnia quod eos e lege in 
hidos aitt in monnmento consnmere oportitit faciim\dd\ coerarnnt 
eidemque probariL{nt\ The form of the letters and the spelling 
point to the time of Sulla as the period in which the inscription 
was cut. The syntax is confused, but the meaning is clear : 
a Laconicum and destrictarinui were built, the colonnade and 
palaestra repaired, by the duumvirs Gains Ulius and PubHus 
Aninius, in accordance with a vote of the city council ; and they 
furnished the means for this work in fulfilment of their obliga- 
tion, incurred by the acceptance of the duumviral office, to 
spend a certain sum upon either games or buildings. 

The destrictarium — a room for removing dirt and oil with 
the strigil after gymnastic exercises — is easily identified (D), 
as are also the palaestra and colonnade ; but in our survey of 



196 POMPEII 

the baths, we have found no separate chamber to which the 
term Laconicum could properly be applied. In order to arrive 
at a solution of the difficulty, we must note the successive steps 
by which, as shown by an examination of the remains of the 
masonry, the heating arrangements were extended and im- 
proved. 

At first, in the Baths as originally constructed, there were 
neither hollow walls nor hollow floors. The heating was done 
by means of braziers ; and there were niches or lockers in the 
walls of the caldariums and tepidariums similar to those now 
found in the dressing rooms, but in double rows, the upper 
niches being larger, the lower smaller. 

Later, a hollow floor was built in the men's caldarium. Later 
still, this room was provided with hollow walls, which were 
extended to the crown of the ceilings and the lunettes, the 
tepidarium being still heated with braziers. 

Finally, a hollow floor and hollow walls were constructed at 
the same time in the men's tepidarium, but the hot air chamber 
was not carried up into the ceiling or the lunettes. 

A similar transformation was gradually accomplished in the 
women's apartments ; but owing, it would seem, to a desire for 
greater warmth in the tepidarium, the hot air chamber here, as 
in the caldarium, was extended to the lunettes and the ceiling. 

Since the method of heating by means of hollow floors only 
came into vogue about 100 b.c, and since the duumvirate of 
Ulius and Aninius must have occurred soon after 80 B.C., we 
are probably safe in supposing that they built the hollow floors 
of the two caldariums, and that the new heating arrangement 
was loosely called a Laconicum. At least a partial warrant for 
this interpretation is found in a passage of Dion Cassius 
(LIII. xxvii. i), in which he says that Agrippa built the 'Spar- 
tan sweating bath,' to irvpiaTiqpiov to KaKwviKov. Agrippa, 
however, built, not a Laconicum in the narrow sense, but a com- 
plete bathing estabhshment, and Dion, doubtless following some 
earlier writer, uses the word as generally appUcable to a system 
of warm baths. In default of a better explanation, we must 
accept a meaning equally loose for our inscription. 

It is not possible to date, even approximately, the other 



THE STABIAN BATHS 



97 



changes by which the baths were conformed to the increasing 
desire for warmth and comfort ; but the decoration of the 
greater part of the building, with its comphcated designs and 
stucco rehefs, was clearly applied to the walls not many decades 
before the destruction of the city. 

The unroofed swimming tank, F, was separated from the 
court by a barrier of masonry about two feet high, which was 
extended also in front of the rooms at the ends, E and G. On 
either side was a step, both the steps and the barrier being 
veneered with white marble. The tank was supplied by a pipe 
entering from the northeast ; the overflow pipe, at the south- 
east corner, is indicated on the plan. 

The rooms E and G, opening both on the swimming tank 
and on the court with high arched doorways, were roofed 
shallow basins where the athletes could give themselves a pre- 
liminary cleaning before going into the tank. The walls are 
veneered with marble to a height of 6J feet ; above are painted 
plants, birds, statues, and nymphs, one of whom holds a shell 
to catch a jet of water; over these the blue sky. Here, as in 
the frigidarium, the artist strove to convey the impression of 
being in the open air, in a beautiful garden, adorned with sculp- 
tures. A jet of water spurted from the rear wall just above the 
marble dado ; above it is a large oblong niche, apparently for 
a statue. 

After a time the basin in G was filled up, and covered with a 
mosaic floor of the same height as the threshold; when one 
cleaning room was found to be adequate, that was retained 
which had a separate dressing room, D. On the white walls of 
the dressing room are traces of the wooden wardrobes that once 
stood against them. In this room, the destrictarium, the athletes 
disrobed, and rubbed themselves with oil before engaging in 
gymnastic exercises, and to it they returned from the palaestra, 
in order to scrape themselves {se destringere) ; then they washed 
themselves in the next room, E, and finally plunged into the tank. 

The room of the official in charge of the baths, J, had win- 
dows opening on the court and into the bowlers' room, K. A 
large bronze brazier was found here, presented, according to 
an inscription on it, by Marcus Nigidius Vaccula, who, as a 



198 



POMPEII 



//^^ 



symbol of his name, had the figure of a cow (yacca) stamped 
in reHef on the brazier. We find a similar brazier, together 
with benches, in the tepidarium of the baths near the Forum, 
which had no other means of heating ; we naturally infer that 
the furniture here was intended for one of the tepidariums, and 
used there before the improved method of heating was intro- 
duced. A Nasennius Nigidius Vaccula, who died before 54 
A.D., is known to us from the receipts of Caecilius Jucundus. 
If he was the donor, and made the gift when he was a young 
man, the change of the system of heating in the tepidarium 
may have been made as early as 20 a.d. 

The colonnade was originally uniform on all the three sides. 
The Doric columns were of tufa, coated with fine white stucco. 

, They were of slender 
\ proportions, the height 
being a trifle over nine 
feet, with a diameter of 
only sixteen inches. 
They were edged, not 
fluted, and doubtless car- 
ried an entablature with 
triglyphs, of which no 
trace remains. In the 
time of the Empire, 
apparently before the 
earthquake of 63, the 
colonnade was remod- 
elled in accordance with the prevailing taste. The columns re- 
ceived a thick coating of stucco, with flutings indicated by in- 
cised lines ; the lower third of the shaft was painted red, the 
upper portion being left white. Over the capitals, moulded 
in stucco, was an entablature resting on thick planks, and orna- 
mented with Hght-colored stucco rehefs. The general effect may 
be seen from our illustration (Fig. 89). 

In this reconstruction the sameness of the earlier colonnade 
was varied with pleasing irregularities. Thus in front of the 
main entrance (A), and in a corresponding position on the 
opposite side of the court, the place of four columns was taken 





Fig. 89. — Colonnade of the Stabian Bath! 
with section of entablature, restored 



capital 



THE STABIAN BATHS 



199 



by two broad pillars flanked by half-columns, and carrying a 
roof more than five feet higher than that of the rest of the 
colonnade. A similar arrangement has already been noted in 
the colonnade of the temple of Isis (p. 174). 

The wall decoration of the court has been particularly well 
preserved on the outer wall of D and E (Fig. 90; cf. PL XIII). 
The surface is diversified by fantastic architectural designs in 
two stories, made up of slender columns with their entablatures, 




Fig. 90.— St 



^ouihwx'si corner of tlic palaestra, showing pan 
onnacle and wall decorated with stucco reliefs. 



iiie col- 



open doorways with steps leading up to them, and glimpses of 
interiors. In the panels thus outlined, figures of all kinds stand 
out in white relief on a bright red or blue ground. Above the 
arched doorway Jupiter sits, resting his right hand on his 
sceptre ; near by, on a pillar, is the eagle. Further to the left 
a satyr offers Hercules a drinking horn. Another relief, not so 
well preserved, has a motive suggestive of the purpose of the 
building — Hylas at the spring seized by the nymphs. With 
this we may associate two designs having reference to the exer- 



200 POMPEII 

cises of the palaestra : a boxer, at the left of the doorway of E, 
and at the right a man scraping himself with a strigil. On 
the outer wall of G is Daedalus, making wings for himself and 
Icarus. 

Under the colonnade at the rear, a herm stands close to the 
wall, having the features of a youth with a garment drawn over 
his head and covering the upper part of the body. For the 
explanation of it we are indebted to Pausanias. ' In the gym- 
nasium at Phigalia, in Arcadia,' says this writer, *is an image 
of Hermes. It has the appearance of a man wrapped in a 
cloak, and terminates below in a square pillar in the place of 
feet.' This is Hermes, the god of the Palaestra, here, as in 
PhigaHa, in a guise suggestive of his function of Psychopompus, 
the conductor of departed souls. We have already met with 
an example of the same type in the court of the temple of 
Apollo. 

A sundial stood on the roof of the frigidarium and men's 
caldarium, supported by a foundation of masonry still visible. 
It bore an Oscan inscription, from which we learn that it was 
set up by the Quaestor Maras Atinius, in accordance with a 
decree of the council, the money for the expenditure being 
derived from fines. The fines were very likely collected here, 
by the official in charge of the building. Sundials were erected 
also in the other baths at Pompeii. They were a necessity, for 
all such establishments were conducted on a schedule of hours. 
Hadrian ordered that the baths in Rome should be open from 
the eighth hour, that is, after two o'clock in the afternoon ; and 
a regulation in regard to the time of opening, if not of closing, 
was probably in force at Pompeii. 

A motley and tumultuous life once filled the barren court, the 
rooms now ruined and deserted. The scene is well pictured by 
Seneca (Ep. 56) : * Quiet is by no means so necessary for study 
as men commonly believe,' the philosopher gravely argues. 
' I am living near a bath : sounds are heard on all sides. Just 
imagine for yourself every conceivable kind of noise that can 
offend the ear. The men of more sturdy muscle go through 
their exercises, and swing their hands heavily weighted with 
lead : I hear their groans when they strain themselves, or the 



THE STABIAN BATHS 201 

whistling of labored breath when they breathe out after having 
held in. H one is rather lazy, and merely has himself rubbed 
with unguents, I hear the blows of the hand slapping his shoul- 
ders, the sound varying according as the massagist strikes with 
fiat or hollow palm. H a ballplayer begins to play and to 
count his throws, it's all up for the time being. Meanwhile 
there is a sudden brawl, or a thief is caught, or there is some 
one in the bath who loves to hear the sound of his own voice ; 
and the bathers plunge into the swimming tank with loud 
splashing. These noises, however, are not without some sem- 
blance of excuse ; but the hair plucker from time to time, raises 
his thin, shrill voice in order to attract attention, and is only 
still himself when he is forcing cries of pain from some one 
else, from whose armpits he plucks the hairs. And above the 
din you hear the shouts of those who are selling cakes, sausages, 
and sweetmeats, besides all the hawkers of stuff from the cook- 
shops, each with a different and characteristic cry.' 
Such were the distractions of a Roman bath. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM 



The bathing establishment in the block north of the Forum 

is smaller and simpler in its arrangements than that described 

in the last chapter, but the parts are essentially the same. Here 

also we find a court, with a colonnade on three sides ; a sys- 

I I I I , tem of baths for men, 

^ "l \\ 1^ 1^^' m comprising a dress- 

I^^^J y / c / /t 1*^ ing room (I) with a 

^ I U / ^ u I *\ small round frigida- 

LJ ^^^"^"""^^y I \ rium (II) opening off 

"J. ■ c;^r=-. ^ !• from it, a tepidarium 

(III), and a caldarium 
(IV); a similar system 
for women, the place 
of the frigidariam be- 
ing taken by a tank for 
cold baths (2) in the 
dressing room ; and a 
long narrow furnace 
room between the two 
baths (V). On three 
sides of the establish- 
ment are shops, in 
connection with which 
are several inns. 

These baths were 
built shortly after 80 B.C., about the time that Ulius and Ani- 
mus repaired the Stabian Baths ; the characteristic masonry, 
with quasi-reticulate facing, is similar to that of the Small 
Theatre and the Amphitheatre. The names of the builders 
are known from an inscription found in duplicate : L. Cacsius 

202 




Fig. 91. — Plan ot the baths near the Forum 



A, A'. Street entrances to court. 

B, Colonnade. D. 
I-IV. Men's baths. 

I. Apodyterium. 
II. Frigidarium. 

III. Tepidarium. 

IV. Caldarium. 
V. Furnace room. 



C. Area. 
Court back of women's baths. 
1-4. Women's baths. 

1. Apodyterium. 

2. Basin for cold baths. 

3. Tepidarium. 

4. Caldarium. 
d. Sundial. 



THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM 203 

C. f. dSjLuni^ v{ir'\ i\jiri'\ d{icundo\ C. Occius M. f., L. Ni- 
racviius A. f. II v\irr\ ^/[r] d\_ecurionuni\ s\_ententia\ ex 
peq\jiiiia\ publ\ica\ fac\Jundtim'\ C7irar\_7int] prob\_ant7it\ 
q[_?ie']. Thus we see that the contract for the building was 
let and the work approved by Lucius Caesius, duumvir with 
judiciary authority, — his colleague had probably died since 
election and the vacancy had not yet been filled, — and the two 
aediles, Occius and Niraemius, who are here styled ' duumvirs,' 
for reasons already explained (p. 12); the cost was defrayed 
by an appropriation from the public treasury. Though these 
Baths are of later construction than the Stabian Baths, they 
seem more ancient because fewer changes were made in them. 

The court here was not a palaestra ; it was small for gym- 
nastic exercises, and Avas not provided with a swimming tank 
and dressing rooms. The open space was occupied by a garden. 

The colonnade on the north and west sides of the court had 
slender columns standing far apart, with a low and simple 
entablature ; on the east side the columns were replaced by 
pillars carrying low arches, which served as a support for 
a gallery affording a pleasant view of the garden. This 
gallery was accessible from the upper rooms of several 
inns along the street leading north from the F'orum, whose 
guests no doubt found diversion in watching what was going 
on below — an advantage that may have been taken into 
account by the city officials in fixing the rent. There are 
benches on the north side of the court, and at the middle a 
deep recess, or exedra {b), making a pleasant retreat for quiet 
conversation. The entrance from the frequented street at the 
left (A) is so arranged that passers-by could not look in ; near 
the entrance from the street on the opposite side (A') is a 
closet {c). The decoration of the court was extremely simple. 
Columns and walls were unpainted ; on the lower parts, stucco 
with bits of brick in it ; above, white plaster. 

From the court a corridor (a) led into the men's apodyterium, 
which could be entered also on the north side from the Strada 
delle Terme. This room contained benches, as shown on the 
plan ; but there were no niches, as in the dressing rooms of 
the Stabian Baths, and wooden shelves or lockers may have 



204 



POMPEII 



been used instead. The small dark chamber at the north end 
(/) may have been used as a storeroom for unguents, such as 
the Greeks called elaeotheshim. It seems to have been thought 
necessary here to connect the dressing room with the furnace 
room (V) by a separate passage. 

Light was admitted to the dressing room through a window 
in the lunette at the south end, closed by a pane of glass half 
an inch thick, set in a bronze frame that turned on two pivots. 




Fig. 92. — Baths near the Forum : interior of the men's tepidariuin. 

On either side of the window are huge Tritons in stucco relief, 
with vases on their shoulders, surrounded by dolphins ; under- 
neath is a mask of Oceanus, and in the same wall is a niche 
for a lamp, similar to that seen in Fig. 92, blackened by the soot. 
The frigidarium is well preserved. In all its arrangements 
it is almost an exact counterpart of the one in the Stabian 
Baths, but the scheme of decoration, suggestive of a garden, 
is less realistically carried out, the ground being yellow ; and 
the round window at the apex of the domed ceiHng has a 



THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM 



205 



rectangular extension toward the south in order to admit as 
much sunhght as possible. 

The tepidarium, as will be seen from our illustration (Fig, 92), 
is in the condition of the tepidarium s of the Stabian Baths 
before the improved arrangements for heating were introduced. 
There were no warm air chambers in the walls or the floor. 
At one end we see the remains of the large bronze brazier and 
benches (the iron grating is modern) presented by Vaccula, to 
which reference has already been made (p. 197). The feet of 
the benches are modelled to represent hoofs, each with a cow's 
head above. 

There are niches in the walls, as formerly in the tepidarium s 
of the Stabian Baths, but several of them for some reason have 




Fig. 93. — Longitudinal section of the men's caldarium. 

been walled up. Wild-visaged, muscular Atlantes stand out 
in bold projection on the front of the partitions between the 
niches, sustaining a cornice upon their uplifted hands. The 
window, seen in the illustration above the lamp niche, was 
closed, as that in the dressing room, by a pane of glass in a 
bronze frame. 

The decoration of the ceiling, unfortunately only in part 
preserved, is well designed. Along the lower edge are ara- 
besques, interwoven in a scroll pattern, in white stucco on a 
white background. Above these are panels of different sizes, 
in which raised white ornaments and figures appear on a white, 
blue, or violet ground ; among the motives are Cupid leaning on 
his bow, Apollo riding on a griffin, Ganymede with the eagle, 
and Cupids on sea horses. 

The caldarium is well preserved ; only a part of the vaulted 



2o6 POMPEII 

ceiling has been destroyed. The hollow space for hot air in 
the floor and walls is indicated in our section (Fig. 93). Here 
we see at the right, the bath basin, Hned with white marble, 
with its sloping back affording a comfortable support for the 
bathers ; at the other end is the apsidal niche {scJioId) with the 
labrum. The direction of Vitruvius, that the labrum should be 
placed under a window in such a way that the shadows of those 
standing around should not fall on it, is here literally observed. 
There were three other small windows at the same end of the 
room, and a niche for a lamp. 

We learn from an inscription on the labrum, in bronze letters, 
that it was made under the direction of Gnaeus Melissaeus Aper 
and Marcus Staius Rufus, who were duumvirs in 3-4 a.d., at 
a cost of 5250 sesterces, not far from $270. This room seems 
to have received its final form before the new method of heat- 
ing the water in the alveus came into vogue ; there is no trace 
of a bronze heater, such as that found in connection with the 
bath basin of the women's caldarium at the Stabian Baths. The 
simple decoration is in marked contrast with the usual orna- 
mentation of the later styles. Above a low marble base are 
yellow walls divided by dark red pilasters, shown in Fig. 93. 
These support a projecting flat cornice of dark red, whose sur- 
face is richly ornamented with stucco reliefs. The ceiHng is 
moulded in flutings running up to the crown of the vault ; only 
in the ceiUng of the schola do we find raised figures. 

The rooms of the women's baths are small, their arrangement 
being determined in part by the irregular shape of the corner 
of the building in which they are placed ; but the system of 
heating is more complete than in the men's baths, for both the 
tepidarium (3) and the caldarium (4) were provided with hollow 
floors and hot air spaces in the walls extending to the lunettes 
and the ceiling. The vaulted ceilings of both of these rooms, as 
well as of the apodyterium, are preserved ; but the caldarium 
has lost its hollow floor and walls, together with the bath basin, 
which was placed in a large niche at the right as one entered ; 
only the base of the labrum remains. The condition of this 
room may be due to the earthquake of the year 63, the neces- 
sary repairs not having been made before the eruption. There 



THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM 207 

was no connection between the women's baths and the court 
at the rear (D), which had a separate entrance from the street. 
At the women's entrance there was a narrow waiting room for 
attendants, separated from the street by a thin wall and pro- 
tected by a roof. 

The furnace room could be entered at one end from the 
street. The three cylindrical tanks for hot, lukewarm, and cold 
water were arranged as in the Stabian Baths. Beyond the 
tanks is a cistern (^), which was supplied in part by rain water 
from the roof, in part by a feed pipe connected with the water 
system of the city. The raised walk {h) on the right side of the 
furnace room is continued to the small court (D) in the corner 
of which is a stairway leading to the flat roof of the men's 
caldarium. From this point of vantage, the view over the 
landscape and the sea must have been beautiful in antiquity, 
as it is to-day. 

A sundial doubtless stood on the larger of the two pillars in 
the court {d\ which' is about seventeen feet high and nearly five 
feet thick at the base ; on the smaller pillar was perhaps a statue 
or other ornamental object of the sort frequently seen in wall 
paintings. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE CENTRAL BATHS 

Seneca in an entertaining letter (Ep. 86) gives an account of 
a visit about 60 a.d. to the villa at Liternum in which the Elder 
Scipio had lived in the years immediately preceding his death, 
in 183 B.C. The philosopher was particularly struck with the 
bath, the simplicity of which he contrasts forcibly with the luxu- 
rious appointments of his own time. We cannot follow him 
through the extended disquisition — he speaks of various refine- 
ments of luxury of which we find no traces at Pompeii ; but he 
mentions as the most striking difference the lack of light in the 
old bath, with its small apertures more like chinks than win- 
dows, while in his day the baths were provided with large win- 
dows protected by glass, and people ' wanted to be parboiled in 
full daylight,' besides having the enjoyment meanwhile of a 
beautiful view. Some such feeling as this we have in turning 
from the two older baths at Pompeii — one of pre-Roman ori- 
gin, the other dating from the time of Sulla — to the Central 
Baths, which were in process of construction at the time of the 
eruption, and had been designed in accordance with the pre- 
vailing mode of life. 

This extensive establishment, at the corner of Stabian and 
Nola streets, occupied the whole of a block ; but a large part of 
the frontage on the two streets mentioned was utilized for shops. 
Notwithstanding the size of the building, it had only a single 
series of apartments, which were laid out on a correspondingly 
large scale. It was doubtless built for men, although the use of 
it at certain hours by women may possibly have been contem- 
plated, in case the women's baths at the two other establish- 
ments should be overcrowded. 

Entrances from three streets lead to the ample palaestra, 
from which the remains of the houses demolished to make room 

208 



THE CENTRAL BATHS 



209 




for it had not yet been entirely removed. On the northeast 
side is the excavation for a large swimming tank {h\ and for 
a water channel leading to the closet {e). In order to have 
water at hand for building purposes, the masons had built a low 
wall around an old im- ^ 
pluvium on the south 
side (shown on the plan, 
Fig. 94) into which a 
feed pipe ran. For a 
short distance on the 
north side the stylobate 
had been made ready for 
the building of the colon- 
nade ; elsewhere only 
the preliminary work 
had been done. The 
rooms at the southeast 
corner (/, g) were no 
doubt intended for dress- 
ing rooms for the palaes- 
tra and the plunge bath. 

Two small rooms {b, c) open upon the north entrance of the 
palaestra ; one of them, perhaps, was to be a ticket office, for 
the adjustment of matters relating to admission, the other a 
cloak room, in which the capsarius would guard the valuables of 
the bathers. 

Two doors admit the visitor from the palaestra to the series 
of bath rooms, one of them opening from the north end of the 
colonnade. The first room (/, /) was designed to answer the 
purpose of a store, with four booths (/', m, n, 0) opening into 
it for the sale of edibles and bathers' conveniences. 

The apodyterium {p\ tepidarium {q\ and caldarium {s) had 
each three large windows opening on the palaestra ; two of those 
belonging to the tepidarium are seen in Fig. 95. None of the 
rooms were finished, though a hollow floor and hollow walls had 
been built in the tepidarium, caldarium, and Laconicum. The 
bath basins yet lacked their marble linings, and the two furnaces 
(at X and y) had not been built. 



Fig. 94. — Plan of the Central Batiis. 
d. Palaestra. q. Tepidarium. 

//. Swimming tank. r. Laconicum. 

/, /. Stores. J. Caldarium. 

/. Apodyterium. x, y. Furnaces. 



POMPEII 



Five smaller windows on the southeast side of the caldarium 
looked out on a narrow garden, about which the workmen had 
commenced to build a wall to cut off the sight of the firemen 
passing to and fro between the two furnaces. The caldarium 
was so placed as to receive the greatest possible amount of 
sunHght, particularly in the afternoon hours, when it would be 
used; this was in accordance with a recommendation of Vitru- 
vius, who says that the windows of baths ought, whenever possi- 
ble, to face the southwest, otherwise the south. 




Fig. 95. — View of the Central Baths, looking from the palaestra into the tepidarium. 

The contrast is indeed marked between the numerous large 
windows here, with their attractive outlook, and the small 
apertures, high in the walls and ceiling, through which light 
was admitted in the older baths. 

In the Central Baths there was no frigidarium ; but a large 
basin for cold baths, nearly five feet deep, was placed in the 
dressing room opposite the windows. Supply pipes were so 
laid that jets would spring into the basin from three small 
niches, one in each wall ; the overflow was conducted by 
pipes under the floor to a catch basin (w), and thence to the 
street. 



THE CENTRAL BATHS 211 

The tepidarium (^) — here, as usual, relatively small — is con- 
nected with the apodyterium by two doors, and similarly with 
the caldarium. The latter room has a bath basin at each end, 
thus affording accommodations for twenty-six or twenty-eight 
bathers at once ; at the middle of the southeast side was a 
smaller basin that took the place of the labrum. The hot air 
flues leading from the furnaces under the bath basins were 
already built, and above them openings were left for semi- 
cylindrical heaters like that in the women's caldarium of the 
Stabian Baths. 

The round sweating room, Laconicum, was made more ample 
by means of four semicircular niches, and lighted by three 
small round windows just above the cornice of the domed ceil- 
ing. There was probably another round opening at the apex, 
designed for a bronze shutter, which could be opened or closed 
from below by means of a chain, so as to regulate the tempera- 
ture. Doors led into the Laconicum from both the tepidarium 
and the caldarium. 

The oblong court between the bath rooms and the street on 
the northeast side was apparently to be laid out as a garden. 
At the north end the workmen had begun to build pillars for a 
short colonnade. A large square foundation for a sundial 
stands near the opposite corner. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE AMPHITHEATRE 

In the southeast corner of the city, at a distance from the 
other excavations, Ues the Amphitheatre, the scene of gladia- 
torial combats. The Pompeians called it ' the show,' spcctacula, 
as in the inscription, preserved in two copies, that gives us 
the names of the builders : C. Qidnctijis C. f. Valgus, M. 
Porcitis M. f\_ilius~\ duo vir\i'\ quinq\jLeniialcs\ colonial honoris 
caussa spectaciila de sua peq\^unia~\ fac\_iunda'\ coer\_a7'unf\ et 
coloneis locum iji perpetuom dcder\jLnf\. According to this, the 
Amphitheatre was built by the same men. Valgus and Porcius, 
who are already known to us as the builders of the Small 
Theatre (p. 153); and they presented it to the city in recogni- 
tion of the honor conferred upon them by their reelection as 
duumvirs. The Amphitheatre may thus have been finished 
half a decade later than the Theatre, but in any case it belongs 
to the earhest years of the Roman colony, — as might be in- 
ferred, in default of other evidence, from the archaic spelling 
of the inscription, and the character of the masonry, which is 
like that of the Small Theatre and the baths north of the Forum 
(p. 41). 

The colonists, however, did not receive from Rome their im- 
pulse to erect such a building. The passion for gladiatorial 
combats was developed in Campania earlier, and manifested 
itself more strongly, than in Latium. Strabo's statement that 
gladiators were brought forward at Campanian banquets, in 
larger or smaller numbers according to the rank of the guests, 
has reference to the period before the Second Punic War ; but 
it was considered a noteworthy event in Rome when, in 264 B.C., 
gladiators engaged in combat in the Forum Boarium in celebra- 
tion of funeral rites, as also when, on a similar occasion in 
216 B.C., twenty-two pairs fought in the Forum. Buildings were 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 



213 



erected for gladiatorial shows in Campanian towns earlier than 
at the Capital. As late as the year 46 b.c. the spectators who 
witnessed the games given by Julius Caesar sat on wooden seats 
supported by temporary staging ; and the first stone amphi- 
theatre in Rome was built by Statilius Taurus in 29 B.C., almost 
half a century after the quinquennial duumvirate of Valgus and 
Porcius. The Amphitheatre at Pompeii is the oldest known 
to us from either literary or monumental sources. 

In comparison with later and more imposing structures, our 
Amphitheatre seems indeed unpretentious. Its exterior eleva- 
tion is relatively low (Fig. 96); as our section shows (Fig. 99), 
the arena and the lower ranges of seats are in a great hollow 




Fig, 96. — The Amphitheatre, seen from the west side. 

excavated for the purpose below the level of the ground. 
The dimensions (length 460 feet, breadth 345) are small when 
compared with those of the Coliseum (615 and 510 feet, respec- 
tively) or even the amphitheatres at Capua or Pozzuoh ; and 
the lack of artistic form is noteworthy. 

The exhibitions held here must also have been on a modest 
scale. There were no underground chambers, below the arena, 
with devices by means of which wild beasts could be lifted up 
into view and the sand suddenly covered with new combatants. 
The limited means of this small city were not adequate to make 
provision for the elaborate equipment and costly decoration 
found in the amphitheatres of larger towns. 

The arena, a view of which is given in Plate VI, is sur- 
rounded by a wall about 6^ feet high. This wall was covered 
with frescoes which, still fresh at the time of excavation, are 



214 



POMPEII 



now known to us only from copies in the Naples Museum. 
They consisted of alternate broad and narrow panels, the latter 
containing each a herm between two columns, while the larger 
spaces presented alternately a conventional pattern and a 
scene connected with the games. One of the scenes gives an 
interesting glimpse of the preparations for the combat (Fig. 97). 
In the middle we see the overseer marking out with a long staff 
the ring within which the combatants must fight. At the right 
a gladiator stands, partly armed ; two attendants are bringing 
him a helmet and a sword. A hornblower, also partly armed, 
stands at the left ; and behind him two companions, squatting 




Fig- 97- — Preparations for the combat. Wall painting, from the Amphitheatre. 

on the ground, make ready his helmet and shield. At either 
end of the scene, in the background, is an image of a Winged 
Victory with a wreath and palm. 

The limestone coping of the wall about the arena shows 
traces of iron in the joints between the blocks, apparently 
remains of a grating designed to protect the spectators from 
attacks by the infuriated wild beasts. The traces are not visible 
all the way around, but this may be accounted for on the sup- 
position that repairs were in progress at the time of the eruption. 

Two broad corridors (3, 3A) connect the ends of the arena 
with the outside of the building. The one at the north end, 
toward Vesuvius, follows a straight line ; the other bends 
sharply to the right in order to avoid the city wall, which bounds 
the structure on the south and east sides. By these corridors 
the gladiators entered the arena, first in festal array, passing 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 215 

in stately procession across the sand from one entrance to 
the other, then coming forth in pairs as they were summoned 
to mortal combat. 

At the middle of the west side there is a third passage, 
narrow and low {e)\ this is the grewsome corridor through 




Fig. 98. — Plan of the Amphitheatre at different levels showing, above, the arrangement 
of the seats ; below, the arrangement of the vaulted passages under the seats. 

1. Podium. II, II. Outer double stairways to terrace. 

2. Gallery. 12, 12. Single stairways to terrace. 

3. 3A. Entrances to arena. 13. Tower of city wall. 

4. 4. Vaulted corridor. 14. City wall. 

5. Passage to death gate. a. First praecinctio. 

6. Iina cavea. b. Second praecinctio. 

7. Media cavea. c, d. Side entrances. 

8. Summa cavea. e. Death Gate. 

9. Stairs of balcony. />/>/• Dens. 
10. Terrace. 



which the bodies of the dead were dragged by means of hooks, 
its entrance being the Porta Libitinensis, 'Death Gate.' Near 
the inner end of each of the three corridors is a small, dark 
chamber (/) the purpose of which is unknown. It has been 



2i6 POMPEII 

suggested that wild animals may have been confined here, but 
larger and more easily accessible rooms would have been re- 
quired for this purpose. They may have been storerooms for 
appliances of various kinds required for the exhibitions. 

The seats, of which there are thirty-five rows, have the same 
form as those in the Small Theatre, and are of the same mate- 
rial, gray tufa. They are arranged in three divisions, — the 
lowest, ima cavea, having five rows ; the middle division, media 
cavea, twelve ; and the highest, sum^na cavea, eighteen (Figs. 98, 
99). In the middle section of the ima cavea on each side the 
place of the seats is taken by four low, broad ledges, set aside 
for members of the city council, who could place upon them 
the seats of honor, bisellia, to the use of which they were 
entitled. At the middle of the east side the second ledge is 
interrupted for a distance of ten feet (the break is shown in 
Plate VI), a double width being thus given to the lowest. This 
place was designed for seats of special honor, and was, no doubt, 
reserved for the official who provided the games, and his associ- 
ates. On the same side the ledges are extended into the next 
section on the south, the continuity of the seats being inter- 
rupted by a low barrier. This supplementary section was, per- 
haps, intended for certain freedmen, as the Augustales (p. 100), 
who had the right to use bisellia, but who nevertheless could 
not become members of the city council, and were not ranked 
on a social equality with the occupants of the middle section. 

The seats of the ima cavea and media cavea were reached 
through a vaulted passage (4), which, in accordance with ancient 
usage, we may call a crypt. It ran under the first seats of the 
second range, and stairs led from it to both divisions. It might 
be entered either from the two broad corridors leading to the 
arena, or directly from the west side by means of two separate 
passages {c, d, on the plan). It is, however, interrupted at the 
middle on each side of the Amphitheatre. On the west side 
the prolongation of the crypt would have interfered with the 
use of the corridor leading to the Death Gate ; but as no such 
reason existed for blocking the east branch, it is probable that 
the designers of the Amphitheatre interrupted both branches 
of the crypt in order to force the spectators who had seats in 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 217 

the lower and middle divisions of the south half of the struc- 
ture to enter and leave by the somewhat inconvenient south 
entrances, which are situated in an angle of the city wall. Had 
the crypt been carried completely around, the crowd would 
always have pressed into the building through the north en- 
trances, which opened toward the city, thus causing confusion, 
if not danger, on occasions of special interest. 

In the corridor leading from the north entrance, as may be 
seen on the plan, a row of stones with square holes in them 
were placed in the pavement near the left wall. In these stakes 
could be set and connected by ropes, thus making a narrow pas- 
sageway along the side. The purpose of the arrangement is 
not difficult to understand. Through the north corridor the 
gladiators entered and left the building, and the wild beasts 




Fig. 99. — Transverse section of the Amphitheatre. 

were brought in ; so provision had to be made to give them a 
passage separate from that used by the spectators. Before the 
commencement of an exhibition the whole entrance was accessi- 
ble to the populace, which eagerly crowded forward to secure 
seats in good season. When they had for the most part found 
their places, the barrier was set up, and only a narrow alley 
was left along the east wall for belated spectators who wished 
to pass into the crypt on that side ; the rest of the passage was 
reserved for the gladiators, and the spectators whose seats were 
reached from the opposite branches of the crypt were obliged to 
use the side entrance {c). 

The middle division was separated from the summa cavea (8) 
by a low parapet with a narrow passage (^praecinctio, b) on the 
upper side. The seats of the summa cavea could be reached in 
two ways, by passing through the crypt and up the long flights 
of stairs that led through the middle division to the top (best 
seen in Fig. 99), or by mounting the stairs on the outside of the 



2i8 POMPEII 

building to the terrace (lo), which has the same level as the 
highest rows of seats ; it is also of the same height as the city 
wall, with which it is merged on the south and east sides. The 
terrace was no doubt the principal means of access ; ample pro- 
vision was made for the crowd by building two large double 
stairways (ii), with smaller single flights at the corners where 
the terrace joined the city wall (12). 

Between the terrace and the seats of the summa cavea was 
an elevated gallery, divided up into small boxes, about four feet 
square ; under the row of boxes were vaulted 
vomitoria, making the seats of the summa cavea 
accessible from the terrace. A passage ran 

b ig. 100. — Plan of the ^ ^ 

gallery. aloug the outsidc of the boxes, with steps lead- 

I. Steps. 2. Boxes, j^g from thc terrace ; only every third box was 
connected with this passage, however, the other two of the group 
being entered from a narrow ramp along the front (Fig. 100). 

The Amphitheatre had a seating capacity of about twenty 
thousand persons. We have no information in regard to the 
distribution of seats, but it may safely be assumed, from the 
arrangements known to have existed elsewhere, that the low- 
est division was reserved for the city officials with their friends 
and other prominent people; that an admission fee was charged 
for the seats of the middle division ; and that the seats of the 
upper division were free. The gallery was doubtless set aside 
for women, who were permitted by a regulation promulgated in 
the reign of Augustus to have a place only in the upper portion 
of the Amphitheatre. 

Besides the inscription giving the names of the builders 
(p. 212) there are several others of interest in connection with 
the building. Four of them, cut in large letters in the travertine 
coping of the wall about the arena, commemorate the construc- 
tion of seats. One reads : L. Saginms II vir i. d. pr\jP\ liL\_dis'\ 
lu\_ininib2is~\ ex d\_eairiomLvi\ d\ecreto~\ cun\enm\ — 'Lucius 
Saginius, duumvir with judiciary authority, in accordance with a 
resolution of the city council (constructed) a section of seats in the 
place of the games and illumination,' that otherwise he would 
have been required to provide. Another of the series is even 
more abbreviated, but the meaning is clear : mag • pag • aug • f • 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 219 

s • PRO • LUD • EX • D • D, that is, Magistri Pagi Angus ti Felicis 
Subnrbani pro ludis ex decurionum decreto, — ' The officials of the 
suburb Pagus Augustus FeHx by authority of a resolution of 
the city council (constructed a section of seats) in the place 
of providing games.' 

From an inscription in the Stabian Baths, to which reference 
has already been made (p. 195), it is clear that some freedom of 
choice was permitted to the city officials regarding the disposi- 
tion of the sum which they were required to contribute for pub- 
lic purposes in recognition of the honor conferred upon them 
by their election. The Amphitheatre was not provided with 
seats at the beginning, and one wedge-shaped section {ciineiis) 
after another was added until the divisions were complete ; 
meanwhile the spectators made themselves as comfortable as 
they could on the sloping ground. As the organization of the 
Pagus Augustus Felix did not take place till 7 B.C., the con- 
struction of the seats could not at that time have been com- 
pleted ; but they were all finished before the overwhelming of 
the city. 

The north entrance to the arena was adorned with two por- 
trait statues of Gains Cuspius Pansa, father and son, placed in 
niches in the walls facing each other. The statues have dis- 
appeared, but the inscriptions underneath are still in place. 
What services the Pansas had rendered in connection with the 
Amphitheatre to merit this distinction, we do not know ; but 
the father, as the inscription indicates, was ' prefect in accord- 
ance with the law of Petronius ' (p. 14); that is, he was ap- 
pointed by the city council to exercise the functions of the two 
duumvirs when no valid election occurred. Bulwer Lytton, by 
a natural error, makes Pansa a commissioner to secure the exe- 
cution of an altogether different Lex Petronia, which forbade 
the giving of slaves to wild beasts unless judicial sentence had 
been previously passed upon them. 

The attraction of the gladiatorial exhibitions, together w^ith 
the ample seating capacity of the building, stimulated attend- 
ance from neighboring cities, and on one occasion unfortunate 
results followed. In the year 59 a.d. a Roman senator, Livi- 
neius Regulus, who had been expelled from the Senate, and 



2 20 POMPEII 

had apparently taken up his residence at Pompeii, gave an 
exhibition that attracted a great concourse. Among those who 
came to witness the combats were many inhabitants of Nuceria. 
The people of the two towns may not have been on the best of 
terms previously ; whatever the cause, the Pompeians and Nuce- 
rians commenced with mutual bantering and recriminations, then 
resorted to stone-throwing, and finally engaged in a free fight 
with weapons. 

The Nucerians, as can easily be understood, fared the worse, 
having many killed and wounded. They carried the matter to 
Rome, lodging a complaint with Nero ; the emperor referred 
the case to the Senate, which decreed that Regulus and the 
leaders of the disturbance should be sent into exile, that the 
Pompeians should not be permitted to hold any gladiatorial 
exhibitions for the space of ten years, and that the illegal socie- 
ties at Pompeii — in regard to which, unfortunately, we have no 
further information — should be dissolved. From the receipts of 
Caecilius Jucundus we learn, further, that the duumvirs of the 
year 59 were removed from office, and that with the new duum- 
virs, elected in their places, a magistrate with extraordinary 
powers, praefectus iiiri dicnndo, was associated — measures that 
indicate how serious the disturbance of public order must have 
been. 

Reminiscences of this bloody fray are found in several in- 
scriptions scratched on walls ; and a lively idea of it is given by 
a wall painting found in 1869 in a house near the theatres, now 
in the Naples Museum (Fig. lOi). The picture is of special in- 
terest as throwing light on the surroundings of the Amphithe- 
atre and some of its arrangements. The open space with the 
trees in the foreground, among which are various booths, remind 
one of a park ; at the right is a single house. It is clear from 
the painting that the women's boxes, in the gallery, were arched 
in front ; and we see how the great awning, velum, was stretched 
over the south end to protect the audience from the sun. It 
was carried by the two towers of the city wall (one of them is 
indicated on the plan, 13) and by masts that stood in the pas- 
sage behind the women's boxes, where several of the perforated 
stones in which they were set may still be seen. 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 221 

That the sports of the Amphitheatre had at all times the 
keenest interest for the Pompeians is evident, not only from 
the number of notices having to do with the games, which we 
see painted in red on walls along the streets or on tombs by 
the roadside, but also from the countless graffiti in both houses 
and public places having reference to combats and favorite 
gladiators. The limits of space do not permit us to describe 




Fig. loi. — Conflict between the Pompeians and the Nucerians. Wall painting. 

the gladiatorial exhibitions as they took place at Pompeii and 
other Roman cities ; but the inscriptions bring so near to us the 
scenes and excitement of those days that it seems worth while 
to quote and interpret a few typical examples. 

On a tomb near the Nuceria Gate, excavated in 1886, is the 
following notice, painted in red letters : Glad\iatorinn'\ pai\id\ 
XX Q. Momii Rnji pug{iiabHnt] Nola K\ji>Jendis\ Mais, VI. 
V. Nonas Maias, et venatio ci'it, — ' Twenty pairs of gladiators, 
furnished by Quintus Monnius Rufus, will fight at Nola May i, 



22 2 POMPEII 

2, and 3, and there will be a hunt.' The forms of ' the letters 
and the numerous ligatures point to a comparatively early 
period, perhaps antedating the reign of Augustus. The ' hunt,' 
ve7iatio, was an exhibition of wild beasts, which sometimes 
were pitted against one another, sometimes fought with men. 
Another tomb close by bears a notice of a gladiatorial combat 
to take place at Nuceria. 

A still larger number of gladiators is announced in this notice : 
Cn. Allei Nigidi Mai qiiinq[jiejmalis'] gl\adiatorui}i'\ par\_ia'\ 
XXX et eor\ttm'\ siipp\ositicii\ piigii\_abii}it\ Pompeis VIII 
VII VI K\_ale7idas~\ Dec{_embres\. Ven\_atio\ erit. Maio qnin- 
\_quennalt\ feliciter. Pai'is va\_le\ — ' Thirty pairs of gladiators 
furnished by Cn. Alleius Nigidius Maius, quinquennial duumvir, 
together with their substitutes, will fight at Pompeii November 
24, 25, 26. There will be a hunt. Hurrah for Maius the quin- 
quennial ! Bravo, Paris ! ' The substitutes were to take the 
place of the killed or wounded, that the sport might not suffer 
interruption. Nigidius Maius appears to have been a rich 
Pompeian of the time of Claudius. In another painted in- 
scription, he advertises a considerable property for rent (p. 
489). His daughter, as we know from an inscription belonging 
to a statue erected in her honor, was a priestess of Venus and 
Ceres. Paris was probably a popular gladiator. 

Other officials besides duumvirs provided exhibitions. Thus 
an aedile : A. Stietti Certi acdilis familia gladiatoria piignab\it\ 
Pompeis pr\_idie'\ K\ale7idas~\ lunias ; venatio et vela er?mt, — 
' The gladiatorial troop of the aedile Aulus Suettius Certus will 
fight at Pompeii May 31 ; there will be a hunt, and awnings 
will be provided.' 

The following notice can be dated, approximately : D. Lucre ti 
Satri Valentis flaminis Neronis Cae saris Aug[_nsti'\ fili perpetui 
gladiatorinn paria XX, et D. Liicreti Valentis fili glad\iatoruni\ 
paria X p?ig\_7iab?mt'] Pompeis VI V IV III pi\idie'\ Idus 
Apr\_iles']. Vejiatio legitima et vela ernnt. Sc7'\_ipsit'] Ae77ti- 
lius Celer si7ig\jilus'\ ad l?i7ia\_77i], — ' Twenty pairs of gladiators 
furnished by Decimus Lucretius Satrius Valens, permanent 
priest of Nero, son of the emperor, and ten pairs of gladiators 
furnished by Decimus Lucretius Valens his son, will fight at 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 223 

Pompeii April 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. There will be a big hunt, 
and awnings. Aemilius Celer wrote this, all alone by the light 
of the moon.' The reference to Nero as the son of the em- 
peror, shows that the inscription was written after he was 
adopted by Claudius, in 50 a.d., and before Claudius's death, 
in 54. Celer was an enterprising painter of notices, whose 
name appears elsewhere in a similar connection. 

Besides the general announcement of a gladiatorial exhibi- 
tion, a detailed programme, libellus, was prepared in advance, 
of which copies were sold. No such copy has come down to 
us, but the character of the contents of a programme may be 
inferred from the order of events which a Pompeian with waste 
time on his hands scratched on a wall ; the memorandum covers 
two exhibitions, which came near together in the early part of 
May, the result of each combat being carefully noted. Unfor- 
tunately the letters have now become almost illegible; but we 
give the superscription and three of the nine pairs of com- 
batants mentioned in the second programme, which is the 
better preserved of the two, adding in a separate column the 
full forms of the abbreviated words ; the figures indicate 
the number of combats in which the different gladiators had 
taken part : — 

MUNUS . N . . . . IV . Ill Munus N . . . . IV. III. 

PRID . IDUS • IDI[BUS] • MAI[S] piidie Idus, Idibus iMais 

T h r e x, M y r m i 11 o 
Pugnax. Neronianus. Ill 
Murranus, Neronianus. Ill 

H o p 1 o m a c h u s, T li r e x 
Cycnus, lulianus, Will 
Atticus, lulianus, XIV 

Essedarii 
Publius Ostorius, LI. 
Scylax, lulianus, XXVI 

The name of the official who gave the exhibition {iniuius) is 
obliterated. The contests extended over four days. May 12-15. 

In the first pair of gladiators Pugnax, equipped with Thracian 
weapons — a small, round shield and short, curved sword or 





T M 




V. 


Pugnax • Ner -III 


vicit. 


p' 


Murranus • Ner • III 
T 


per at. 


V. 


Cycnus • Iul • Villi 


vicit. 


m. 


Atticus • Iul • XIV 
ESS 


missus est. 


in. 


P • Ostorius • LI 


jnisstis est. 


V. 


ScYLAx . Iul • XXVI 


vicit. 



224 POMPEII 

dagger — was matched with the Myrmillo Murranus, who bore 
arms of the GalHc fashion, with the image of a fish on his hel- 
met. Both were Neroniani ; that is, from the training school 
for gladiators founded by Nero, apparently at Capua. Pugnax 
and Murranus had both been through three contests previously. 
The name of a gladiator entering a combat for the first time 
was not followed by a number, but by the letter T, standing for 
tiro, 'novice.' At the left we see the record added to the pro- 
gramme by the writer in order to give the result of the combat. 
Pugnax was the victor, Murranus was killed. 

In the second pair Cycnus, in heavy armor, was pitted against 
Atticus, who had the Thracian arms. Both were from the 
training school founded by Julius Caesar, probably at Capua, 
and hence are called In Hani. Cycnus won, but the audience 
had compassion on Atticus, and his life was spared. The same 
term was applied to a defeated gladiator permitted to leave the 
arena as to a soldier having an honorable discharge — missus, 
' let go.' 

The third pair fought in chariots, being dressed in British 
costume. Scylax was from the Julian school. Such establish- 
ments let out gladiators to those who gave exhibitions, and 
obtained in this way a considerable income. But Publius Osto- 
rius, as his name implies, was a freeman ; presumably he was a 
gladiator, who, having served a full term, had secured his free- 
dom, and was now fighting on his own account. Though beaten, 
he was permitted to live, perhaps on account of his creditable 
record ; he had engaged in fifty-one combats. 

The combatants from the schools of Caesar and Nero were 
especially popular, and were generally victorious ; but gladiators 
belonging to other proprietors are mentioned, as in the inscrip- 
tions of a house on Nola Street, which will be mentioned again 
presently. Here we find gladiators who were evidently freemen 
named with others who were slaves of different masters. In 
only one of these inscriptions, however, do we find the name of 
an owner that is known to us: Essed\ariiLs'\ Aiiriolus Sisen\iiae\ 
The chariot fighter Auriolus belonged to a Sisenna, seemingly 
either the Sisenna Statilius Taurus, who was consul in i6 a.d., 
or his son of the same name. As we have seen, it was a Sta- 



THE AMPHITHEATRE 225 

tilius Taurus who built the first permanent amphitheatre in Rome, 
in 29 B.C. The control of this building remained in the hands 
of the family. In the columbarium in which the ashes of 
their slaves and freedmen were placed, we find inscriptions of a 
'guard of the amphitheatre,' and of a 'doorkeeper' — custos de 
aiJipJiitJieatro, ostiarius ab ainpJiitJieatro. It is highly probable 
that the family — the first in Rome after the imperial house — 
possessed a training school, and derived an income from fur- 
nishing gladiators to those who gave exhibitions. 

In view of these facts, we must suppose that the ' troop ' 
{familia gladiatoria) of Suettius Certus, for example, was sim- 
ply a band of gladiators brought together for a particular 
engagement, not a permanent organization. The giver of an 
exhibition would make a contract for the gladiators that he 
might need. At the close of the combats the dead would be 
counted, the surviving freemen paid off and dismissed, and the 
surviving slaves returned to their masters, ' the troop ' thus 
going out of existence. 

Occasionally the individual who provided the combats would 
erect a monument to the fallen, by way of perpetuating the 
memory of his munificence. A familiar example is the memo- 
rial set up by Gains Salvius Capito at Venosa, of which the 
inscription is extant. The names are given of the gladiators 
who were killed, together with the number of their previous 
combats and victories. They were slaves of different masters, 
only one of them, Optatus, being owned by Capito himself. 
Optatus was a tiro, who fell thus in his first contest. Possibly 
his master had obhged him, on account of some misdemeanor, 
to enter the arena with little previous training. 

Besides the classes of inscriptions of which examples have 
been presented, all sorts of scratches upon the plastered walls 
bear witness to the general enthusiasm for gladiatorial sports. 
Sometimes there is simply the name of a gladiator, with his 
school and the number of combats, as Ancttis, Iul\iamis\ 
XXXXX ; sometimes we find a rough outline of a figure with a 
boastful legend, as Hcrmaiscus invictus hac, ' Here's the uncon- 
quered Hermaiscus.' 

There are also memoranda in regard to particular combats, 



226 POMPEII 

illustrated by rude sketches. Thus on a wall in the house of 
the Centenary we find a drawing of a gladiator in flight, pur- 
sued by another, with the note : Officiosus fiigit VIII Idiis 
Nov\embres'\ Dniso Caesaj'e M. Innio Silano cos., — ' Officiosus 
fled on November 6, in the year 15 a.d.' A similar sketch has 
been found in another house, with these words written beside 
the fleeing gladiator, Q. P{_e~\tronius 6>[r]/rt[z/]?/j XXXIII, 
m\iss2is'\ ; beside the pursuer, Sevcrus lib\ertus\ XXXXXV, 
v\icit\ Severus was thus a gladiator who had been a slave, 
and had gained his freedom : he had fought fifty-five combats. 
Petronius Octavus may have been a freeman, who had fought 
on his own account from the beginning. In taverns a painting 
of a gladiator with an inscription like the record of a pro- 
gramme was a favorite subject of decoration. 

Athletes in all ages have won the admiration of the gentler 
sex ; and it would be surprising if among so many gladiatorial 
graffiti there were not some containing references to female 
admirers. In the peristyle of a house on Nola Street (V. v. 3) 
the names of about thirty gladiators are found ; the kinds of 
weapons and the owners are designated, and the number of 
previous combats given, as in the programmes, while records 
of the results of the combats are entirely lacking. Terms of 
endearment are lavished upon two, Celadus, Threx, and Cres- 
cens, net fighter ; Celadus is suspiriitni piiellaruni, ' maidens' 
sigh,' and piiellarnm decus, * glory of girls ' ; while Crescens is 
pupariLm dorniniis, ' lord o' lassies,' and pnpanim incdicus, * the 
darlings' doctor.' ^ 

Another graffito informs us that at one time — before the year 
63 — a gladiator lived in this house: Savins I I in\jiLrinillo\ 
idem eq\_ues\ hie Jiab\itat\, — ' Samus, who has fought once, 
and once conquered {0 is for eorona, ' crown '), Myrmillo, and 
at the same time fighter on horseback, lives here.' Other 
gladiators, no doubt, shared the dwelling with him ; and the 
amatory graffiti may have been written by one and another 
miles gloriosus, referring to conquests outside the arena, or by 
companions in bitter scorn. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

STREETS, WATER SYSTEM, AND WAYSWE SHRIiVES 



The streets of Pompeii vary greatly in width. The widest 
is Mercury Street, the continuation of which near the Forum 




Fig. I02. — View of Abbondanza Street, looking east. 

At the left, fountain of Concordia Augusta, and side entrance of the Eumachia building. 

In the pavement, three stepping stones. 

has a breadth of nearly 32 feet. Next come Abbondanza 
and Nola streets, the greatest width of which is about 28 
feet ; the other streets and thoroughfares vary from 10 to 20 
feet. With unimportant exceptions, broad and narrow streets 
aHke are paved with polygonal blocks of basalt, which in laying- 
were fitted to one another with great care ; on both sides are 

227 



228 POMPEII 

raised sidewalks, with basalt or tufa curbing. The sidewalks 
in some places are paved with small stones, elsewhere are laid 
with concrete, or left with a surface of beaten earth. As there 
is no uniformity, the sidewalk varying in front of adjoining 
houses, it is clear that the choice of materials was left to indi- 
vidual owners of abutting property. The limits of ownership 
are often designated by boundary stones, laid in the surface of 
the walk. 

Broad ruts, worn by wheels, are seen in the pavement, shal- 
lower in places where the basalt flags, cut from the lowest 
stratum of the stream of lava, are particularly hard ; deeper 
wherever there are blocks quarried nearer the surface. Only 
the principal streets were wide enough to allow wagons to meet 
and pass ; elsewhere drivers must have waited at a corner for a 
coming team to go by. It seems likely that driving on the 
streets of the city was forbidden, wheeled vehicles being used 
only for traffic ; people who wished to ride availed themselves 
of litters. 

At various places along the thoroughfares, but particularly at 
the corners, large oblong stepping stones with rounded corners 
were set in the pavement at convenient distances for those wish- 
ing to cross, the surface being on a level with the sidewalk. The 
number varied according to the width of the pavement ; in the 
broadest streets as many as five were used. They were ar- 
ranged always in such a way as to leave places for the wagon 
wheels. It is not difficult to understand how Pompeian drivers 
guided their teams past them ; draft animals were attached to 
the wagon by means of a yoke fastened to the end of the pole, 
and, as there were no tugs or whippletrees, they had a greater 
freedom of movement than is allowed to modern teams. 

It is not to be supposed that so complete a system of paving 
existed from the beginning of the city. Some light is thrown 
on the period of its laying by two inscriptions, — one, ex • k • 
QUI, cut in the edge of the sidewalk west of Insula IX. iv. ; the 
other, K • Q, in the pavement between the second and fourth 
Insulae of Region VII. Both are evidently dates, and in full 
would read ex Kalcndis Quiuctilibus, ' from the first day of 
July,' and Kalendis Quinctilibus, 'July i.' Apparently they 



THE STREETS 229 

relate to the laying of the pavement ; this was in place, even in 
the unimportant side street of Region VII, when the inscrip- 
tions were cut, and so must go back to the time before the 
name of the month Qidnctilis was changed to hiliiis^ our July. 
Pompeii was paved, therefore, before 44 b.c. 

The stepping stones were particularly useful when there was 
a heavy rain ; for the water then flowed in torrents down the 
streets, as it does to-day in Catania, where the inhabitants have 
light bridges which they throw over the crossings after a 
storm. There were covered conduits to carry off the surface 
drainage of the Forum, one of which runs under the Strada 
delle Scuole to the south, the other under the Via Marina to 
the west. Elsewhere the water rushed down the streets till it 
came near the city walls, where it was collected and carried 
off by large storm sewers. These are still in successful opera- 
tion, as are also the conduits at the Forum. One is at the west 
end of the Vico dei Soprastanti, another at the west end of 
Nola Street ; and a third leads from Abbondanza Street, where 
it is crossed by Stabian Street, toward the south. 

There were other sewers in the city, but they were of small 
dimensions and have not been fully investigated. They seem 
generally to have been under sidewalks. They were not designed 
to receive surface water, but the drainage of houses. They can- 
not have served this purpose fully, however, for most of the 
closets were connected, not with the sewers, but with cesspools. 

After the lapse of more than eighteen centuries, the visitor 
at Pompeii will distinguish at a glance the business streets from 
those less frequented. The sides of the former are lined with 
shops ; along the latter are blank walls, broken only by house 
doors, with now and then a small window high above the pave- 
ment. The greatest volume of business was transacted on the 
two main thoroughfares, Stabian and Nola streets ; next in 
importance were Abbondanza Street, leading from the Forum 
toward the Sarno Gate, and the continuation of Augustales 
Street from the north end of the Forum toward the east. First 
in the list of quiet thoroughfares is the broad Mercury Street, 
along which were many homes of wealth ; the north end of it is 
closed by the city wall. 



230 POMPEII 

There were many fountains along the streets of Pompeii, 
most of them at the corners. They were fed by pipes connect- 
ing with the water system of the city. The construction is 
simple. A deep basin was made by placing on their edges four 
large slabs of basalt, held together at the corners by iron clamps. 
Above one of the longer sides, usually near the middle, is a 
short, thick standard, of the same stone, pierced for the lead 
feed pipe, which threw a jet of water forward into the basin 
below ; on the opposite side is a depression through which the 
superfluous water ran off into the street. Most of these stand- 
ards are ornamented with reliefs, roughly carved but effective, 
— an eagle with a hare in its beak, a calf's head, a bust of 
Mercury, a head of Medusa, a drunken Silenus (Fig. 103), or 
some other suitable design, arranged so that the water would 
spurt from the mouth of the figure or from an amphora. 

Occasionally we find a fountain of finer material. That of 
Concordia Augusta, of limestone, has already been mentioned 
(p. 117). In the neighborhood of the Porta Marina there is a 
fountain of white marble with a relief showing a cock that has 
tipped over a jar, from the mouth of which the water flowed. 
Both these more costly fountains were probably the gift of 
private individuals, one presented to the city by Eumachia, the 
other by the owner of the nearest house, at VII. xv. 1-2. All 
the fountains bear witness to long use by the depressions worn 
in the stone by the hands of those leaning forward to drink. 

Water towers stand at the sides of the streets, small pillars 
of masonry preserved ordinarily to the height of 20 feet. 
Usually on one side there is a deep perpendicular groove 
(shown in Fig. 103) in which ran the pipe that carried the water 
to the top of the tower, where it was received by a small open 
reservoir, presumably of metal, and distributed through numer- 
ous small pipes leading to the fountains and to private houses. 
The sides of the towers are often covered with incrustations of 
lime deposited from the water, in which the impressions of the 
lead pipes are still to be seen ; in the case of one tower, at the 
northeast corner of Insula VI. xiii, a number of the pipes have 
been preserved. A reservoir was placed also on the top of the 
commemorative arch at the lower end of Mercury Street, on 



WATER SYSTEM 



231 



which stood the bronze statue of Nero or CaUgula (p. 48) ; the 
traces of the pipes leading from it are clearly seen on the sur- 
face of the arch. Similar water towers are in use now in Con- 
stantinople and Palermo, having been introduced into the latter 
city, it would seem, by the Saracens, who very likely took their 
water system from that of the Turkish capital. 

In consequence of these arrangements, Pompeii was well 
supplied with water. There were flowing jets in all houses 
except the poorest, and in some the amount used must have 
been large. In the house of the Vettii there were no less than 




Fig. 103. — Fountain, water towi 1. nm -u.^ i 
Nola streets. 



;orner of Stabian and 



sixteen jets, in the house of the Silver Wedding, seven ; and an 
equally generous distribution is found in many other of the 
more extensive private establishments. Large quantities of 
water were used also in the public baths. The water pipes 
were made of sheet lead folded together, a transverse section 
showing the shape of a pear. They were of all sizes, according 
to the pressure ; the flow of water was regulated by means of 
stopcocks, much like those in use to-day. 

Across the street from the Baths near the Forum, on the 
west, is a deep reservoir, of which we give the plan (Fig. 104). 
It is built partly below the level of the sidewalk, and measures 
about 50 feet in length and 13 in width, being covered by a 




] 



232 POMPEII 

vault. In the south end is a window (c), reached from one of 
the stairways ; when the reservoir was filled to the bottom of the 
window, it contained not far from ninety-five thousand gallons. 
There were two outlets. One was at the level of the floor, 
closed by means of a bronze slide ; the grooves in which the 
slide worked are preserved. This must have been used only when 
the reservoir was cleaned. The other outlet was placed about 
three feet above the floor, so that the water could be drawn 
off without disturbing the bottom. On the flat roof were rooms 
the arrangement of which cannot be determined. 

Similar reservoirs are found in Constantinople, designed to 
furnish a supply of water in case of siege. Such may have 
been the purpose of our structure, which seems to have been 

built in the early years of 
the Roman colony. The resi- 
dents, remembering the hard- 
ships of the siege of Sulla, 
may have thought it neces- 
'"'''''''' sary to make provision against 

Fig. 104. — Plan of reservoir, west of the • -i • • ^ r 

Baths near the Forum. ^ Smillar Strait m the f UturC. 

a. b, c. Windows. d, c. Stairs. The sourcc froui whlch the 

city received its water supply 
has not been discovered. Evidently it did not draw upon the 
sources of the Sarno; the water channel constructed by Fon- 
tana (p. 25) runs through the city at a height of less than sixty 
feet above the level of the sea, while the ancient aqueduct that 
supplied Pompeii had so great a head that in the highest parts 
of the city, more than 130 feet above the sea, it forced the 
water to the top of the water towers, at least twenty feet more. 
Copious springs can never have existed on the sides of Vesu- 
vius ; water must have been brought to the city from the more 
distant mountains bounding the Campanian plain on the east. 

We can hardly believe that the construction of a water chan- 
nel for so great a distance lay within the resources of so small 
a town. We find, however, the remains of a great aqueduct 
which, starting near Avellino, a dozen miles east of Nola, 
skirted the base of Vesuvius on the north and extended west- 
ward, furnishing water not only to Naples but also to Puteoli, 



STREET SHRINES 233 

Baiae, and Misenum. This ancient structure drew from the 
same springs, and followed substantially the same route, as the 
new aqueduct which since 1885 has been bringing water to 
Naples. No inscription in regard to it has been found, and 
there is no reference to it in ancient books. The remains — 
of which the longest section, known as Ponti Rossi, ' Red 
Bridges,' may be seen near Naples — seem to indicate two 
styles of construction, extensive repairs having been made after 
the aqueduct had been partly destroyed ; but up to the present 
time it has not been possible to determine the period to which 
they belong. 

The water system of Pompeii goes back to the time before 
the founding of the Roman colony. This is evident, not only 
from the arrangements of the older baths, which comtemplated 
a freer use of water than could well have been provided 
by cisterns, but also from the existence of three marble sup- 
ports for fountain basins, which, as shown by their style of 
workmanship, the use of Oscan letters as mason's marks, and 
their location in pre-Roman buildings — the temple of Apollo, 
the Forum Triangulare, and the house of the Faun — belonged 
to the earlier period. If we may ascribe the building of the 
great aqueduct to the time of peace and prosperity in Campania 
between the Second Punic War and the Social War, and sup- 
pose that Pompeii, joining with other towns in its construc- 
tion, was suppHed by a branch from it, we have a simple and 
highly probable solution of the problem. Nothing in the char- 
acter of the masonry requires us to assign the aqueduct to a 
later date. 

The shrines along the streets, with few exceptions, were 
dedicated to the guardian deities presiding over thoroughfares, 
particularly the gods of street crossings, Lares Compitales. The 
worship of these divinities in Rome was reorganized by Augustus 
and placed in charge of the precinct wardens, vicoruni inagistriy 
who were to see that the worship of his guardian spirit. Genius, 
was associated with that of the Lares at each shrine. The 
arrangements at the Capital were naturally followed by the 
colonies and other cities under Roman rule. 



234 



POMPEII 



At Pompeii the shrines of the street gods differ greatly in 
size and character. Sometimes there is a small altar against 
the side of a building, with two large serpents, personifications 
of the Genius of the place, painted on the wall near it ; one of 
the serpents, with a conspicuous crest, represents a male, the 
other, a female. 

Frequently the place of the altar is taken by a niche, in 
which the passer-by could deposit his offering. In our illus- 
tration (Fig. 105) we see an ancient street altar which was 
carefully preserved when the Central Baths were built, a niche 
being made over it in the new wall. 




Fig. 105. —Ancient altar in new wall, southeast corner of the Central Baths. 



Sometimes a large altar is found, and the Lares, with their 
offerings, are painted on a wall above it. Such a shrine may 
be seen at the northwest corner of Stabian and Nola streets, 
between the fountain and the water tower (Fig. 103). Back of 
the altar is a wall terminating in a gable (the tiles are modern) 
on which was a painted altar with four worshippers clad in togas, 
and a fluteplayer, the inseparable accompaniment of a Roman 
sacrificial scene ; at the sides were the two Lares, represented as 
youths, in loose tunics confined by a girdle, holding in one hand, 
high uplifted, a drinking horn {rhyton), from which a jet of wine 
flows into a small pail {sitnla) in the other hand. It is remark- 
able that we do not find in this or similar paintings at Pompeii, 




STREET SHRINES 235 

any figure representing the Genius of the emperor, while in 
private houses the Genius of the proprietor often has a place 
with the Lares, and sometimes the Genius of the emperor also ; 
in theory at least, as already remarked (p. 104), the emperor 
stood to all men in the relation that the master of a house bore 
to the household. 

There is also a small chapel for the worship of the street 
gods on the west side of Stabian Street, near 
Abbondanza Street. As may be seen from 
the accompanying plan (Fig. 106), at the left 
as you enter is a bench of masonry (i), at the 
rear a long altar (2). In the wall at the right 
is a niche for the bronze or terra cotta figures 
of the Lares and the Genius, while the surface — i — i — 3 — 4 — tm 
of the altar is divided into two parts, for the Fig. 106.— Plan of a 

1 . r ,1 T • -J.- A chapel of the Lares 

separate worship 01 the same divmities. A compitaies 

similar chapel is situated on the west side of 
Mercury Street (VI. viii. 14). Here also we find a bench of 
masonry, with two niches above it; in the middle was a block 
of limestone which may have been used as an altar. At the 
rear is a door leading into a small back room. This chapel was 
formerly thought to be a barber shop. 

It has been customary to assign to the street gods all of the 
shrines at the side of the street. Occasionally, however, other 
divinities were thus honored ; and the only street altar found 
with an inscription is consecrated to a different deity. This 
altar is near Nola Street, on the east side of Insula IX. vii. On 
the wall above two cornucopias are painted the words Sahitei 
sacrum, ' Sacred to Salus ' ; the goddess of health was wor- 
shipped here. 

Near the upper end of the Forum, on the north side of Insula 
VII. vii, is another altar, above which is a stucco relief repre- 
senting a sacrifice ; at the sides of the relief are pilasters, and 
over it a gable, in which an eagle is seen. This indicates that 
the shrine was dedicated to Jupiter. 

The largest of the street altars, of tufa, stands free in a vaulted 
niche on the north side of Insula VIII. ii, but no traces of paint- 
ing are to be seen near it (Fig. 107). 



236 



POMPEII 



Various divinities are painted on the outside of houses. The 
largest picture of this kind is at the corner of Abbondanza 
Street, on the east side of Insula VIII. iii. It contains figures 
of the twelve gods, distinguished by their attributes — Vesta, 
Diana, Apollo, Ceres, Minerva, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcan, Venus 

Pompeiana, Mars, Nep- 
tune, and Mercury. Un- 
derneath are the two ser- 
pents, facing each other, 
on either side of a painted 
altar ; near the altar are 
other figures that cannot 
be plainly distinguished, 
probably of men offering 
sacrifice. This is not a 
shrine — there is no place 
for the offerings. The 
owner of the property 
(house of the Boar), de- 
sired to place his house- 
hold under the protection 
of these gods, perhaps 
also to preserve the cor- 
ner from defilement. 
We often find roughly 
sketched figures of sin- 
gle gods, to the guardian 
care of whom the master of a house wished to commit his inter- 
ests — most frequently Mercury, the patron divinity of traders, 
and Bacchus ; but also Jupiter, Minerva, and Hercules. 

Sometimes merely a pair of serpents are painted on a wall, in 
order to give a religious association to the place, as a means of 
protection. In one case (east side of Insula VII. xi. 12) an 
explicit warning was painted on the plaster beside them : Otiosis 
lociLS hie lion est; diseede, morator, — 'No place for loafers here; 
move along ! ' 




Fig. 107.— Lai: 



CHAPTER XXXII 

THE DEFENCES OF THE CITY 

From the military point of view, Pompeii at the time of the 
eruption did not possess a system of defences. For many years 
previously the city wall had been kept in repair only as a con- 
venience in matters of civil administration, and the gates had 
long since lost all appearance of preparedness to resist attack. 
The fortifications are not, however, without interest. They 
form a massive and conspicuous portion of the ruins, and as 
a survival from an earlier period they have recorded many 
evidences of the successive changes through which the city 
passed. 

The relation of the wall to the configuration of the height on 
which Pompeii stood was pointed out in connection with our 
general survey of the city (p. 31). Along the southwest side, at 
the time of the eruption, it had almost completely disappeared. 
Here, where the slope was steepest and the city best defended 
by nature, the wall had been removed, and its place occupied 
by houses, at a comparatively early date, probably in the second 
century B.C. ; enough fragments remain, however, to enable us 
to determine its location with certainty. Elsew^here the greater 
part of the wall is in a fair state of preservation. The towers 
did not belong to the original structure, and one of the gates in 
its present form is of still more recent origin. 

The construction of the wall will be readily understood with 
the help of the accompanying illustrations.' 

First, two parallel stone walls were built, about 15 feet apart 
and 28 inches thick; both walls were strengthened on the side 
toward the city by numerous buttresses, the inner wall being 
further supported by massive abutments projecting into the 
space between (Fig. 108). This space was filled with earth. 

237 



238 



POMPEII 




When the desh'ed height, 26 or 28 feet, was reached, a breast- 
work of parapets was constructed on the outer wall ; the inner 
wall was carried up about 16 feet above the broad passageway 
on the top (Fig. no) as a shield against the weapons of the 
enemy, preventing the missiles from going over into the town 
and causing them to fall where the garrison could easily pick 
them up to hurl back again. Rain water falling on the top 
flowed toward the outside, and was carried beyond the face of 
the masonry by stone waterspouts. 

For additional strength there was heaped against the inner 
wall an embankment of earth, which still remains on the north 

side, between the tenth 
and twelfth towers. At 
the right of the Her- 
culaneum Gate the 
place of the embank- 
ment and of the inner 
wall was taken by a 
massive stairway (E 
in Fig. 108) leading to 
the top. Originally, 
the stairs extended east 
about 270 feet, but afterwards they were demolished for the 
greater part of the distance, and houses were built close to 
the wall. There is a smaller stairway of the same kind east of 
the Stabian Gate (Fig. in). 

In the original structure both outer and inner walls were 
built of hewn blocks of tufa and limestone ; but we find portions 
of the outer wall, and all the towers, of lava rubble, the surface 
of which was covered with stucco. The towers were already 
standing, as shown by inscriptions, at the time of the Social 
War. We are therefore safe in beheving that in the period of 
peace following the Second Punic War the walls were not kept 
in repair, some parts of the outer wall being utilized as a quarry 
for building stone ; that with the advent of the Social War they 
were hastily repaired on the north, east, and south sides, and 
strengthened by towers, but that no attempt was made to renew 
the fortifications on the steep southwest side, between the Her- 



Fig. 108. — Plan of a section of the city wall. 

A. Inner wall with buttresses and abutments. 

B. Outer wall. 

C. Filling of earth between the stone walls. 

D. Tower. 

E. Stairs leading to the top of the wall. 



THE DEFENCES OF THE CrfY 239 

culaneum Gate and the Forum Triangulare, where the Une of 
the old wall was covered with buildings. 

When the towers were added — probably not long before 




Fig. 109. — View of the city wall, inside, where the embankment has been removed. The 
door in the tower at the left marks the height of the embankment. 

90 B.C. — they were not distributed evenly along the wall, but 
were placed where they seemed to be most needed. The 
western portion of the ridge between the Herculaneum and 



240 POMPEII 

Capua Gates was particularly favorable for the approach of 
an enemy ; hence three towers were built near together here, 
numbered lo, ii, and 12 on Plan I. Another part of the 
wall especially exposed was on the southeast side, where 
the height covered by the city slopes gradually down to the 
plain ; and we find five towers within a comparatively short 
distance, two east of the Amphitheatre, the other three further 
south. On the north side, between the Capua and Sarno 
gates, the slope is steeper and two towers were thought to be 
sufficient. 

That there were once two additional towers, besides the ten 
that have been enumerated, is evident from several Oscan 
inscriptions, painted in red letters on the street walls of houses. 
One of them, near the southwest corner of the house of the 
Faun, reads thus: 'This Avay leads between Towers 10 and 11, 
where Titus Fisanius is in command.' The street referred to 
runs between the tenth and twelfth Insulae of Region VI, direct 
to the city wall. Two others refer to a 'Tower 12' near the 
Herculaneum Gate, this part of the fortifications being in charge 
of Maras Adirius. 

In a fourth inscription we read : ' This way leads between 
the houses of Maras Castricius and of Maras Spurnius, where 
Vibius Seximbrius is in command.' In 1897, a fifth inscription 
became visible on the north side of Insula VIII. v-vi, where it 
had been concealed by a coat of plaster: /This way leads to 
the city building (and) to Minerva.' The street referred to is 
seemingly the blind alley which formerly ran through the insula 
(Plan I). If this is correct, the sanctuary of Minerva is the 
Doric temple in the Forum Triangulare ; but the ' city building ' 
cannot be identified. 

The five inscriptions evidently date from the siege of Sulla ; 
they were intended for the information of the soldiers, belong- 
ing to the army of the Allies, who were quartered in the city to 
assist in its defence. At this time there must have been twelve 
towers, that near the Herculaneum Gate being reckoned last in 
the enumeration, as in Plan I ; but the location of the two that 
have disappeared has not been determined. Another sug- 
gestive reminder of the same siege is the name l • svla. 



THE DEFENCES OF THE CITY 



241 



^^- 




scratched by a soldier in the stucco on the inside of Tower 10, 
near a loophole. 

The towers, which measure approximately 31 by 25 feet, 
were built in two 
stories, wdth strong 
vaulted ceilings. 
The floor of the sec- 
ond story was on a 
level with the top of 
the wall, and over 
this story w^as a ter- 
race with battle- 
ments, as shown in 
Fig. no; the roof 
seen on the two 
towers in Fig. 10 1 
was a later addition, 
made wdien the city 
walls were no longer 
needed as a means 
of defence. Stairways on the inside gave ready access to the 
lower part of the towers, which could be entered from the city 
by a door (Fig. 109) opening on the enbankment. On the out- 
side wxre loopholes. Below, at the right, was a sally port, placed 
thus in order that the soldiers when rushing forth might present 
their shields to the enemy, leaving the right hand free to use 
with offensive weapons ; when returning to the wall they would, 
if possible, cut their way to the sally port in the next tower to 
the right, so as to avoid the danger of exposing their right sides 
to the enemy. 

Four of the gates have been excavated, the Porta Marina and 
the Stabian, Nola and Herculaneum gates ; two others, the 
Vesuvius and Sarno gates, have been partly exposed to view. 
The remaining two are still completely covered. All bear evi- 
dence of extensive repairs, and one of them, the Herculaneum 
Gate, was entirely rebuilt at a comparatively late period ; with 
this exception, however, they seem to have assumed their pres- 
ent form in the Tufa Period. Three of them still retain traces 



Tower of the city wall, restored. 



242 



POMPEII 




of decoration of the first style on the inner parts. The different 

gateways enter the walls at various angles. 

The Stabian Gate may be taken as typical. Entering from 

the outside, at A, one came through a vaulted passage, B, about 

twelve feet wide, to a 
broad middle passage, 
or vantage court, open 
to the sky, into which 
missiles and boiling 
pitch could be hurled 
from above upon the 
heads of an enemy at- 
tempting to force the 
gates ; then followed a 
second vaulted pas- 
sage, a little wider than 

Fig. Ill . - Plan of the Stabian Gate. ^he Other, in which WCrC 

b. Steps leading to the top of the wall. huUg thc heaVy doublc 

c. Gatekeeper's lodge. doOrS, OpCUing OUt- 

d. Oscan inscription. 

e. Latin inscription. Ward. The project- 
ing posts of the doors 

as are also the stones on which they rested 
when they were swung back against the wall ; the vaulting has 
been restored. The gateway was paved throughout, with a 
raised walk on the right side. On one side of the inner en- 
trance is a well {a\ the Gorgon's head upon the curb reminding 
one of the protectress of the gate ; on the other, the flight of 
steps already mentioned {b) leads to the top of the wall. Just 
beyond the steps are the remains of a small building, perhaps 
the lodge of the gate keeper (<:). 

The patron divinity of city gates, Minerva, was probably 
honored with a small statue in the niche still to be seen in the 
wall of the vantage court. Two inscriptions commemorate the 
making of repairs on the thoroughfare passing under the gate- 
way. One of them (at d) is the Oscan inscription recording 
the work of the aediles Sittius and Pontius, to which reference 
has already been made (p. 184). The other (at e) is in Latin, 
and of much later date. It informs us that the duumvirs L. 



B. Outer passage. 

C. Vantage court 

D. Doors. 
a. Well. 



are preserved, 



THE DEFENCES OF THE CITY 



243 



Avianius Flaccus and Q. Spedius Firmus at their own expense 
paved the road 'from the milestone,' which must have been 
near the gate, ' to the station of the gig drivers {cisiajHos), at 
the Hmits of the territory of the Pompeians.' The Roman gigs, 
cisia, were very Hght, and adapted for rapid travelHng; they 
were drawn by horses or mules, and were- kept for hire at 
stations along the highways. The site of the station between 
Pompeii and Stabiae is not known. 

The Nola Gate, and the partially excavated Vesuvius and 
Sarno gates, follow the plan just described in all essential par- 
ticulars. The inner keystone of the Nola Gate, facing the city, 
is ornamented with a helmeted head of Minerva, in high relief, 
which being of tufa has suffered from exposure to the weather. 
There was once an Oscan inscription near by, which stated that 
the chief executive officer of the city, Vibius Popidius, let the 
contract for building this gate, and accepted the structure from 
the contractor. 

The front of the Porta 
Marina has the appearance 
of a tower projecting from 
the wall. The gateway 
consists simply of two 
vaulted entrances, of un- 
equal width ; one for vehi- 
cles, the other, at the left, 
for pedestrians. Both were 
closed by doors. In the 
niche at the right of the 
wider passage the lower 

part of a terra cotta statue of Minerva was found. There was 
no vantage court, no inner passage ; but in the early years of 
the Roman colony the steep lower end of the Via Marina for a 
distance of 70 feet was covered with a vaulted roof, which still 
remains. Opening into this corridor on the right is a long narrow 
room, which formed a part of the foundations of the court of 
the temple of Venus Pompeiana, and is now used as a Museum. 

This gate in its present form could hardly have been in- 
tended for defence ; it was adapted rather for administrative 




Fig. 112. — Plan of the Herculaneum Gate. 

A. Steps leading to the top of the city wall. 

B. Roombelonoing to the house at the left of the Gate. 



244 



POMPEII 



purposes, and must have been built — probably in the place of 
an earlier structure — in a period when the possibility of war 
seemed remote. Such a time, as previously remarked, was the 
second century B.C., particularly the latter half, after the de- 
struction of Carthage. 

A still more peaceful aspect is presented by the Herculaneum 
Gate. The style of masonry — rubble work with opus mixtum 
at the corners — points to the end of the RepubHc, rather than 




Fig. 113. — Herculaneum Gate, looking down the Street of Tombs. 
The corners of the entrances are opus mixtum, a course of brick-shaped blocks of stone 
alternating with three courses of bricks. 



to the Empire, as the period of construction. Here we find 
three vaulted passages, the middle one for vehicles, those on 
either side for pedestrians. The vaulting over the middle part 
of the gate has disappeared ; but according to appearances a van- 
tage court was left here, in the middle passage, if not in those at 
the sides ; at the inner end of this court the gates were placed. 
The greater part of the structure served no purpose of utility ; it 
was obviously designed as a monumental entrance to the city. 



PART II 

THE HOUSES 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE POM PEL AN HOUSE 

Our chief sources of information regarding the domestic 
architecture of ancient Italy are two, — the treatise of Vitruvius, 
and the remains found at Pompeii. The Pompeian houses pre- 
sent many variations from the plan described by the Roman 
architect ; yet in essential particulars there is no disagreement, 
and it is not difficult to form a clear conception of their arrange- 
ments. 

The houses of Greco-Roman antiquity differed from those of 
modern times in several respects. They took their light and air 
from the inside, the apartments being grouped about a court or 
about a large central room which ordinarily had an opening in 
the ceiling ; the distribution of space being thus made on a differ- 
ent principle, the large rooms were often larger, the small rooms 
smaller and more numerous than in modern dwellings of corre- 
sponding size ; and in the better houses the decoration of both 
walls and floors w^as more permanent than is usual in our day. 
The ancient houses were relatively low, in most cases, if we 
except the crowded tenements of imperial Rome, not exceeding 
two stories. The windows in the outside walls were generally 
few and small, and the external appearance was not unlike that 
of Oriental houses of the present time. In the city house the 
large front entrance was frequently ornamented wqth carved 
posts and lintel. 

The development of the Italic house can be traced at Pompeii 
over a period of almost four hundred years. The earlier form 

245 



246 



POMPEII 



consisted of a single series of apartments, — a central room, 
atrium, with smaller rooms opening into it, and a garden at the 
rear; an example is the house of the Surgeon (p. 280). A res- 
toration of such a house with its high atrium, wide front door, 
and garden is shown in Fig. 114. 




■ V- - --^ 

Fig. 114. — Early Pompeian house, icstored. 



Later, under Greek influence, a court with a colonnade and 
surrounding rooms was added. This was called peristylhiin, 
' peristyle ' ; it is simply the more elaborate inner part of the 
Greek house, andronitis, joined to the dwelling of Italic origin. 
We find the union of atrium and peristyle with their respective 
groups of apartments fully accomplished in the second century 
B.C., the Tufa Period ; the type of dwelling thus developed re- 
mained in vogue during Roman times and is often called the 
Roman house. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



247 



The double origin is clearly indicated by the names of the 
rooms. Those of the front part are designated by Latin words, 
— atrium, fauces, ala, tab lint ini ; but the apartments at the rear 
bear Greek names, — peristyliuin, triclinium, oecus, exedra. In 
large houses both atrium and peristyle were sometimes dupli- 
cated. 

The houses of Pompeii impress the visitor as having been de- 
signed primarily for summer use. The arrangements contem- 
plate the spending of much time in the open air, and pains was 
taken to furnish protection from the heat, not from the cold. 
The greater part of the area is taken up by colonnades, gardens, 
and courts ; from this point of view the atrium may be classed 
as a court. The living rooms had high ceilings. In summer 



x>^ 



I I • , * > — • I 



VesiibuIuTn Faiuc^ J.np7uviu.TL TaJrlinuTn. % 



vcm Faiuc^ J.npluviu. 



^.^neSj-a. 



sjndron. 



T1 nrTTl 



Fig. 115. — Plan of a Pompeian house. 

they were cool and airy, in winter difficult to heat ; they were 
dark and close when the door was shut, cold when it was open. 

With a single exception the arrangements for heating so often 
met with in the remains of houses discovered in northern coun- 
tries are found at Pompeii only in connection with bath-rooms ; 
the cold was ineffectively combated by means of braziers. We 
are led to believe that the Pompeians were extremely sensitive 
to heat, but endured cold with great patience. One who makes 
himself familiar with the arrangements of Italian houses to-day 
will receive a similar impression, although the peculiarity is per- 
haps less obvious than in the case of the ancient dwellings. 

In describing the Pompeian houses it is more convenient to 
designate the principal rooms by the ancient names. In Fig. 115 
we present an ideal plan ; in it the names are given to the parts 
of the house, the relative location of which is subject to compara- 



248 POMPEII 

tively little variation. These parts will first be discussed ; then 
those will be taken up which present a greater diversity in their 
arrangements. 

I. Vestibule, Fauces, and Front Door 

The vestibulnm was the space between the front door and the 
street. The derivation of the word {;ve- + the root of stare, ' to 
stand aside ') suggests the purpose ; the vestibule was a place 
where one could step aside from the bustle and confusion of the 
street. In many houses there was no vestibule, the front door 
opening directly on the sidewalk ; and where vestibules did exist 
at Pompeii, they were much more modest than those belonging 
to the houses of wealthy Romans, to which reference is so fre- 
quently made in classical writers. Roman vestibules were often 
supported by columns of costly marbles, and adorned with stat- 
ues and other works of art. Only one vestibule at Pompeii was 
treated as a portico, that of the house of the Vestals near the 
Herculaneum Gate. This was once as wide as the atrium, the 
roof being carried by four columns ; but before the destruction 
of the city two partitions were built parallel with the sides divid- 
ing it into three parts, a narrow vestibule of the ordinary type, 
with a shop at the right and at the left. 

The passage inside the front door was called fauces, or pro- 
tJiyron. According to Vitruvius the width of it in the case of 
large atriums should be half, in smaller atriums two thirds, that 
of the tablinum ; at Pompeii the width is generally less than half. 
In the houses of the Tufa Period the corners of the fauces where 
it opens into the atrium were ornamented with pilasters con- 
nected at the top by an entablature. 

The vestibule and fauces were ordinarily of the same width, 
and were separated by projecting doorposts with a slightly raised 
threshold (Fig. ii6) and heavy double doors. Sometimes, as in 
the house of Epidius Rufus, there was in addition a small door 
at the side of the vestibule opening into a narrow passage con- 
necting with the fauces (Fig. 149). In such cases the folding 
doors, which on account of their size and the method of hanging 
must always have been hard to open, were generally kept shut. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



249 



They would be thrown back early in the morning for the recep- 
tion of cHents, and on special occasions ; at other times the more 
convenient small door would be used. 

In several instances the volcanic dust so hardened about the 
lower part of a front door that it has been possible to make a 
cast by pouring soft plaster of Paris into the cavity left by the 
crumbling away of the wood ; there are several of these casts in 
the Httle Museum at Pompeii. With their help, and with the 




Fig. 116. — Plan and section of the vestibule, threshold, and fauces of the house of Pansa. 



well preserved stone thresholds before us, it is possible to pic- 
ture to ourselves the appearance of the doorway. 

The doorposts were protected by wooden casings, antepag- 
menta, which were made fast at the bottom by means of holes 
in the threshold (a, a in Fig. 1 16). 

The folding doors swung on pivots, which were fitted into 
sockets in the threshold (/3, yS) and in the lintel. The pivots 
were of wood, but were provided — at least the lower ones — 
with a cylindrical cap of iron or bronze, and the socket had 
a protective lining of the same metal. Both caps and sockets, 



250 POMPEII 

especially those of bronze, are found in the thresholds in a 
good state of preservation. It seems strange that ancient 
builders did not use smaller pivots of solid metal, on which the 
doors would have turned much more easily ; but a conservative 
tradition in this regard prevailed against innovation. 

The fastenings were elaborate. Near the inner edge of each 
door was a vertical bolt, which shot into a hole in the threshold 
(7, 7); there was probably a corresponding bolt at the top, 
as in the case of large modern doors. Sometimes there was a 
heavy iron lock, turned with a key, and also an iron bar which 
was fastened across the crack in such a way as to tie the two folds 
together. In many houses there are holes in the walls of the 
fauces, just back of the door, in which at night a strong wooden 
bar, sera, was placed ; hardly less often we find a hole in the 
floor a few feet back, in which one end of a slanting prop was 
set, the other end being braced against the middle of the door. 
These arrangements bring to mind Juvenal's vivid picture of the 
disturbances and dangers of the streets of Rome at night. 

II. The Atrium 

An atrium completely covered by a roof was extremely rare. 
With few exceptions, there was a large rectangular opening 
over the middle, coinphtvium, toward which the roof sloped 
from all sides (Figs. 114, 118). In the floor, directly under the 
compluvium, was a shallow basin, impluvium, into which the 
rain water fell (// in Fig. 118). The impluvium had two outlets. 
One was connected with the cistern; a round cistern mouth, 
puteal, ornamented with carving, often stood near the edge of 
the basin, as in the house of the Tragic Poet (Fig. 153). The 
other outlet led under the floor to the street in front, carrying 
off the overflow when the cistern was full, and also the water 
used in cleaning the floor. In the better houses a fountain was 
often placed in the middle of the impluvium. 

Vitruvius (VI. iii. i et seq.) mentions five kinds of atriums, 
the basis of classification being the construction of the roof — 
Tuscan, tetrastyle, Corinthian, displuviate, and tortoise atriums. 
The first three are well illustrated at Pompeii. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



251 




The Tuscan atrium, supposed by the Romans to have been 
derived from the Etruscans, was apparently the native Italic 
form. Two heavy girders were placed across the room, above 
the ends of the impluvium (Fig. 117, b). On these, two shorter 
crossbeams were laid (r), over the sides of the impluvium. The 
corners of the rectangular frame thus made v/ere connected 
with the walls at the corners of the atrium by four strong slant- 
ing beams (Figs. 117, 118, e\ On these and on the frame were 
placed the lower ends of the 
sloping rafters (Fig. 117, /), 
carrying the tiles, the arrange- 
ment of which can be seen in 
Figs. 114, 117, and 118. This 
was the most common arrange- 
ment of the roof at Pompeii. 

The edge of the compluvium 
was frequently ornamented with 
terra cotta waterspouts, repre- 
senting the heads of animals. 
In a house near the Porta Marina 
the projecting foreparts of dogs 
and lions were used in place of 
the heads ; the remains of a part 
of the compluvium have been 
put together again, and are seen 
in Fig. 119. The lions were 
placed over the larger spouts 
at the four corners ; the under 
side of the spouts surmounted by the dogs and lions was orna- 
mented with acanthus leaves in relief. The same illustration 
presents an example of the antefixes sometimes found. 

The tetrastyle atrium differed from the Tuscan in only one 
respect : there were four columns supporting the roof, one at 
each corner of the impluvium. In most cases these supports, 
which interfered with the view of the interior, can hardly have 
been intended primarily for ornament ; they simplified the con- 
struction, making the ceiHng and roof firm without the use of 
the heavy and expensive girders. 



Fig. 117. — A Tuscan atrium : plan of the 
roof. 

a. a. Side walls. 

b. One of the two girders supporting the roof. 

c. Crossbeam, resting on the two girders. 

d. Short beam of the thickness of c. 

e. Corner beam. 

f. Rafters, sloping toward the inside. 

g. Compluvium. 

1. Flat tiles, tegiclae. 

2. Semicylindrical tiles for covering the joints, 

imbrices. 

3. Gutter tiles. 



25^ 



POMPEII 



The Corinthian atrium had a larger compkivium than the 
other kinds, the roof being supported by a number of columns. 
There are three examples at Pompeii, the houses of Epidius 
Rufus with sixteen columns (p. 310), of Castor and Pollux with 
twelve, and of the Fullonica with six. 

The roof of the displuviate atrium sloped from the middle 
toward the sides, the water being carried off by lead pipes. 
The aperture for the admission of Hght and air was relatively 

much higher above the floor 
than in the kinds previously 
described. No example of 
"'1> this type has been found at 
Pompeii. 

The tortoise atrium, 
atrium testudinatuni, was 
small and without a com- 
pkivium. The roof had a 
pyramidal shape. There 
were possibly a few exam- 
ples at Pompeii, as we may 
infer from the occasional 
absence of an impluvium ; 
in the only instance, how- 
ever, in which it is possible to determine the form of the roof 
(V. V. 1-2), this must have been very different from that referred 
to by the Roman writer (p. 343). 

Vitruvius says further that the atrium should have an oblong 
shape, the width being three fifths or two thirds of the length, 
or measured on the side of a square, the hypothenuse of which 
is taken for the length. The design was obviously to bring 
the sides nearer together, thus lessening the strain on the two 
girders which in the commonest form were used to sustain the 
roof. The height, to the frame of the compluvium, should be 
three fourths of the width. 

In the case of the tetrastyle and Corinthian atriums at Pompeii 
the height is indicated by that of the columns, but there are 
rarely adequate data for determining the height of the others 
with exactness. In regard to length and breadth the propor- 




Fig. 118. — A Tuscan alrium : section. 
b. Girder. i. Flat tiles. 

e. Corner rafter. 2. Semicylindrical tiles. 

h. Impluvium. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



253 



tions harmonize fairly well with those recommended by Vitru- 
vius ; but the height, in the cases in which it can be ascertained, 
is often greater than that contemplated by the rules of the 
architect. 

Looking at the Pompeian atriums in their present condition 
(Plate VII, Figs. 121, 153) one might easily receive the impres- 
sion that they were primarily courts rather than rooms. In this 
respect the restorations of Roman houses in the older books are 
often at fault, the atrium being generally represented as too low 
in comparison with the rooms around it. 




Fig. 119. — Corner of a compluvium with waterspouts and antefixes, reconstructed. 



The references in the ancient writers uniformly point to this 
as the principal room of the house. In the earliest times the 
hearth stood here ; a hole in the roof served as a chimney. The 
accumulation of soot on the ceiling and the walls suggested 
the characteristic name 'black room'; for atrium comes from 
ater, 'black.' Here the household gathered at mealtime; here 
they worked, or rested from their labors. In the atrium Lucre- 
tia sat with her maids spinning late at night when her husband 
entered unexpectedly with his friends. 

Such the atrium remained in farmhouses to the latest times. 
The name meanwhile was transferred to the corresponding 
apartment of elegant city homes, while in the country it went 
out of use, being replaced by cnlina, ' kitchen,' on account of 



254 POMPEII 

the presence of the hearth. In such a room in his Sabine villa 
Horace loved to dine, conversing on topics grave or gay with 
his rustic neighbors, and partaking of the simple fare with 
relish ; while his slaves, freed from the restraints of city life, 
were permitted to eat at the same time, sitting at a separate 
table. The remains of an atrium of this kind, with its hearth 
and niche for the images of the household gods, may be seen in 
the villa recently excavated near Boscoreale (p. 361). 

Without doubt some houses of the ancient type might be 
found in cities, even in Rome, as late as the end of the Repub- 
lic. We read of one in Cicero's time in the atrium of which 
spinning was done. But at Pompeii the hearth had been ban- 
ished from the atrium at a comparatively early date, in the 
Tufa Period if not before ; and the room was made uncom- 
fortable to sit in, for a considerable part of the year, by the 
broad opening of the compluvium. 

From the architectural point of view, however, the atrium 
never lost its significance as the central apartment. In all its 
dimensions, but particularly in height, it presents so great a 
contrast with the rooms around it as to remind us of the rela- 
tion of a Roman Catholic church to the chapels at the sides. 
The impression of spaciousness was perhaps deepened when 
the atrium was provided with a ceiling. Few traces of such 
ceilings are found at Pompeii, and in the smaller houses the 
inside of the roof seems generally to have been visible. 

The atrium of the Corinthian type most nearly resembled a 
court, on account of the size of the opening to the sky and the 
use of many columns. A suggestion of the un-Italic character 
of this type appears in the name; for one can scarcely suppose 
that atriums in the strict sense existed at Corinth. 

Although the Pompeian atriums show no traces of a hearth, 
there is possibly a reminiscence of the ancient arrangement 
in the gartibniinn, a table which we frequently find at the rear 
of the impluvium. Varro says that since his boyhood these 
tables, on which vessels of bronze were placed, had gone out 
of use ; at Pompeii they remained in fashion much longer. The 
gartibulum with its bronze vases may symbolize the ancient 
hearth with the cooking utensils. Possibly, however, it repre- 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



255 



sents the kitchen table near the hearth on which the dishes 
were washed ; that it may have served a similar purpose in 
later times is evident from the fact that in front of it a marble 
pedestal was often placed for a statuette which threw a jet of 
water into a marble basin at the edge of the impluvium. This 
group of table, fountain figure, and basin appears in many 
Pompeian atriums. In Plate VII we see the gartibulum and 
the supports of the marble basin, but the base of the fountain 
figure has disappeared. 

The strong box of the master of the house, area, often stood 
in the atrium, usually against one of the side walls. It was 
sometimes adorned with re- 
liefs, as the one shown in 
Fig. 120, which is now in the 
Naples Museum. It stood on 
a heavy block of stone, or low 
foundation of masonry, to 
which it was attached by an 
iron rod passing down through 
the bottom. A wealthy Pom- 
peian sometimes had more 
than one of these chests. 

In three atriums the herm 
of the proprietor stands at the rear. One, with the portrait of 
Cornelius Rufus, is shown in Fig. 121. 

When there were two atriums in a house, the larger was more 
elaborately furnished than the other, and was set aside for the 
pubhc or official Hfe of the proprietor ; the smaller one was used 
for domestic purposes. Typical examples are found in the 
houses of the Faun and of the Labyrinth. In the former the 
principal atrium is of the Tuscan type, the other tetrastyle ; in 
the latter the large atrium is tetrastyle, the smaller Tuscan. 




Fig. 120. — A Pompeian's strong box, area. 



III. The Tablinum 

The tablinum was a large room at the rear of the atrium, 
opening into the latter with its whole width ; the connection of 
the two rooms is clearly shown in Plate VII and Fig. 121, 



256 



POMPEII 



According to Vitruvius, when the atrium was 30 to 40 feet 
in width — as in the larger Pompeian houses — the tablinum 
should be half as wide ; when the atrium was smaller, the width 
of the tablinum should be two thirds that of the atrium, while 
the height at the entrance should be nine eighths, and inside 
four thirds of the width. These proportions will not hold 







. 




A 


n 


■ 






m^Bmk 




j^'^^'^ ' '^B 


^pB 


■ 






^^^^^B 


^^iS 


^ ' ^p^w 


■^''^'m 








^^^B 


V aMIbjI 


■ '^"i^% 


ix-fl 


^H 






JffiHH 


V L. lBMM'» n 


t '^riW- 




^^^H 






^^^ 


1 ■iiiHHil 


^ 


; i:M 


■ 


I^Rf*^^^ 


'"J 


^HjS| 


iHHnlUn 


f^B 


,U^' fl 






^M 


^B 


^P8iH 


^^1 


O^SH 


■ 






^Bj 


taL^r? 




[^9 


m 


HB|'>. ^m_ 




■H^^^^l 






^^^^^^^^Bi 




I^^KL fSHM 




b2^ 


HBlb :' 


^, ij^ 








h 


^ 


- " 


~\::\ ..-^ 




i 



Fig. 121. — Atrium of the house of Cornelius Rufus, looking through the tablinum and 

andron into the peristyle. 

In the foreground, the impluvium, with the carved supports of a marble table; at the left, 

between the entrances to the andron and the tablinum, the herm of Rufus. 



good for Pompeii, where the tablinum is generally narrower 
and higher (Vitr. VI. iv, 5, 6). 

The posts at the entrance were usually treated as pilasters, 
joined above ]3y a cornice ; architecturally the front of this room 
formed the most impressive feature of the atrium. Between the 
pilasters hung portieres, which might be drawn back and fas- 
tened at the sides. In the house of the Silver Wedding the 
fastenings were found in place, — bronze disks from which a 
ship's beak projected, attached to the pilasters, 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 257 

In early times the tablinum ordinarily had an opening at the 
rear also, but this was not so high as that in front, and could be 
closed by broad folding doors. In winter the doors were prob- 
ably kept shut. In summer they were left open and the room, 
cool and airy, served as a dining room, a use which harmonizes 
well with a passage of Varro explaining the derivation of the 
name. ''In the olden time," says this writer, "people used to 
take their meals in the winter by the hearth ; in summer they 
ate out of doors, country folk in the court, city people in the 
tabidimim, which we understand to have been a summer house 
built of boards." The derivation of tabidinum, of which tabli- 
nmn is a shortened form, from tabula, 'a. board,' is obvious. 

The period to which Varro refers antedates that of the oldest 
houses at Pompeii. The room which we call tablinum was then 
a deep recess at the rear of the atrium, open at the front, as 
now, but enclosed by a wall at the rear ; against this wall was a 
veranda opening into the garden, toward which the board roof 
sloped. People took their meals in the veranda in summer, and 
to it the name tablinum was naturally applied. In the recess 
at the rear of the atrium, corresponding to the later tablinum, 
was the bed of the master of the house, called lectus advcrsiis 
because ' facing ' one who entered the front door. As late as 
the reign of Augustus, long after it became the custom to set 
aside a closed apartment for the family room, a reminiscence of 
the ancient arrangement still remained in the couch which stood 
at the rear of the atrium or in the tablinum, which was called 
lectiLS adversns, or even lectus genialis. 

The removal of the hearth and the bed from the atrium must 
have taken place when the small hole in the roof was replaced 
by the compluvium. A broad opening was made in the rear 
wall, and the place where the bed had been was turned into a 
light, airy room ; this was now used as a summer room instead of 
the veranda, the name of which was in consequence transferred 
to it. 

Even in later times, when the houses were extended by the 
addition, at the rear, of a peristyle with its group of apartments, 
the tablinum may often have been used as a summer dining 
room ; but the tendency now was to withdraw the family life 



258 POMPEII 

into the more secluded rooms about the peristyle. The tab- 
linum, lying between the front and the rear of the house, was 
used as a reception room for guests who were not admitted into 
the privacy of the home ; and here undoubtedly the master of 
the house received his clients. 

In the house of the Vettii the tablinum is omitted on account 
of the abundance of room ; but at the rear of the atrium there 
are wide openings into the peristyle (Fig. 158). 

IV. The Alae 

The alae, the 'wings' of the atrium, were two deep recesses 
in the sides (Fig. 115). They were ordinarily at the rear, but 
were sometimes placed at the middle, as in the house of Epidius 
Rufus (Fig. 149). Vitruvius (VI. iv. 4) says that where the atrium 
is from 30 to 40 feet long, one third of the length should be 
taken for the breadth of the alae ; in the case of larger atriums 
the breadth of these rooms should be proportionally less, being 
fixed at one fifth of the length for atriums from 80 to 100 feet 
long ; the height at the entrance should be equal to the breadth. 

At Pompeii the alae, as the tablinum, are narrower and higher 
than required by these proportions. In the Tufa Period the 
entrances were ornamented with pilasters, and treated like the 
broad entrance of the tablinum. 

With reference to the purpose and uses of these rooms we 
have no information beyond a remark of Vitruvius in regard to 
placing the images of ancestors in them. This throws no light 
upon their origin ; for only a few noble families could have pos- 
sessed a sufficiently large number of ancestral busts or masks to 
make it necessary to provide a special place for these, while the 
alae form an essential and characteristic part of the Pompeian 
house. Now and then an ala was used as a dining room ; more 
frequently, perhaps, one was utilized for a wardrobe, as may 
be seen from the traces of the woodwork. A careful study of 
the remains only deepens the impression that at Pompeii the 
alae served no definite purpose, but were a survival from a pre- 
vious period, in which they responded to different conditions of 
life. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



259 



An interesting parallel presents itself in the arrangements of 
a type of peasants' house found in Lower Saxony. The main 
entrance, as in the early Italic house, leads into a large and high 
central room ; at the sides of this and of the main entrance are 
the living rooms and stalls. At the back the central room is 
widened by two recesses corresponding with the alae ; the hearth 
stands against the rear wall. In the side walls, at the rear of 
each recess, are a window and a door. The two windows admit 
light to the part of the central room furthest from the entrance ; 
the doors open into the farmyard and the garden. 

The Italic house in the beginning was not a city residence 
shut in by party walls, but the isolated habitation of a country- 
man. The design of the alae, as of the recesses in the Low 
Saxon farmhouse, was to furnish hght to the atrium, which, as 
we have seen, was completely covered by a roof, there being 
only a small hole to let out the smoke. The large windows in 
the rear of the alae of the house of Sallust may be looked upon 
as a survival ; but in city houses generally light could not be 
taken in this way from the sides. After the compluvium had 
come into general use, a conservative tradition still retained the 
alae whenever possible, though they no longer answered their 
original purpose. 

V. The Rooms about the Atrium. The Andron 

In front there were rooms at either side of the entrance, ordi- 
narily fitted up as shops and opening on the street, but sometimes 
used as dining rooms or sleeping rooms, or for other domestic 
purposes. 

On each side of the atrium were two or three small sleeping 
rooms ; in narrow houses these, as well as one or both of the 
alae, were occasionally omitted. 

At the rear were one or two rooms of the same depth as the 
tablinum, used in most cases as dining rooms. They frequently 
had a single broad entrance on the side of the peristyle or the 
garden (Fig. 134, 22), but were sometimes entered by a door 
from the atrium or from one of the alae (Figs. 115, 121). The 
door on the side of the atrium seems generally to have been 



2 6o POMPEII 

made when the house was built ; if the owner did not wish to 
use it, it was walled up and treated as a blind door, an orna- 
ment of the atrium. 

The rooms about the atrium in the pre-Roman period were 
made high, those in front and at the sides often measuring fifteen 
feet to the edge of the ceiling, which had the form of a groined 
vault. The rear rooms were still higher, the crown of the vaults 
being as far above the floor as the flat ceiling of the tablinum. 
A corresponding height was given to the doors ; those in the 
house of the Faun measure nearly fourteen feet. The upper 
part of the doorway was doubtless pierced for the admission of 
light in the manner indicated by wall paintings, and shown in 
our restoration of one side of the atrium in the house of Sallust 
(Figs. 261, 262). 

The andron was a passage at the right or the left of the tab- 
linum, connecting the atrium with the peristyle (Figs. 115, 121). 
The name was used originally to designate an apartment in the 
Greek house, but was applied by the Romans to a corridor. In 
modern times the passage has often been erroneously called 
fauces. 

The andron is lacking only in small houses, or in those in 
which a different connection is made between the front and 
rear portions by means of a second atrium, or other rooms. 

VI. Garden, Peristyle, and Rooms about the Peristyle 

A few Pompeian houses, Hke those of the olden time, are 
without a peristyle, having a garden at the rear. In such cases 
there is a colonnade at the back of the house, facing the gar- 
den ; this is the arrangement in the houses of the Surgeon, of 
Sallust, and of Epidius Rufus. In the large house of Pansa 
(Fig. 177), we find both a peristyle and a garden, the latter 
being at the rear of the peristyle ; and in many houses a small 
garden was placed wherever available space could be found. 

The peristyle is a garden enclosed by a colonnade, or having 
a colonnade on two or three sides. When this was higher on 
the north side than on the other three, as in the house of the 
Silver Wedding, the peristyle was called Rhodian. In the Tufa 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 261 

Period the colonnade was frequently in two stories, on all four 
sides or on the front alone. Fragments of columns belonging 
to the second story have been found in many houses, but in 
only one instance, that of the house of the Centenary, are they 
of such a character as to enable us to make an accurate restora- 
tion; here the double series of columns extended only across 
the front. 

A separate entrance, posticum (Fig. 115), usually connected 
the peristyle with a side street. At the rear there was often a 
broad, deep recess, exedra^ corresponding with the tablinum. 
The location of the other rooms in this part of the house is 
determined by so many conditions, and manifests so great a 
diversity that it may be spoken of more conveniently in con- 
nection with their use. 

VII. Sleeping Rooms 

The small, high rooms about the atrium were in the earlier 
times used as bedrooms; and such they remained in some 
houses, as that of the Faun, down to the destruction of the 
city. 

The sleeping rooms about the peristyle were much lower, and 
the front opened by means of a broad door in its whole, or 
almost its whole, width upon the colonnade. These rooms 
could frequently be entered also through a small side door 
from a dining room, or a narrow recess opening on the peristyle 
(Fig. 146, x). The design of the arrangement is obvious. In 
summer the inconvenient large door could be left open day and 
night, a curtain being stretched across the space ; in winter it 
would be opened only for airing and cleaning, the small door 
being used at other times. 

The place for the bed was sometimes indicated in the plan 
of the room. In a bedroom of the house of the Centaur, of 
which an end view is given in Fig. 122, a narrow alcove was 
made for the bed at the left side ; the floor of the alcove is 
slightly raised, and the ceiling, as often, is in the form of a 
vault, while the ceiling of the room is higher and only sHghtly 
arched. A similar arrangement is found in several other rooms 



262 



POMPEII 



decorated in the first style. In several houses, as in the house 
of Apollo, there is a sleeping room with alcoves for two beds. 

In bedrooms with a mosaic floor the place for the bed is 
ordinarily white, being separated from the rest of the room by 
a stripe suggestive of a threshold. A similar division is often 
indicated in the wall decoration, particularly that of the second 
style ; the part designated for the bed is set off by pilasters on 
the end walls, and differently treated both in respect to the 
decorative design and in the arrangement of colors. 




Fig. 122. — End of a bedroom in the house of the Centaur, decorated in the first style. 
At the left, alcove for the bed ; above, two windows. 



VIII. Dining Rooms 

As long as it was customary to sit at meals any fair-sized 
apartment could be used as a dining room. When the early 
Italic house was extended by the addition of a peristyle, and the 
Greek custom of reclining at table was introduced, it became 
necessary to provide a special apartment, and the Greek name 
for such a room with the three couches, iriclijiiicui, came into 
use. For convenience in serving, the length of a dining room. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



263 



'1 1 

* 1 


B 


0° 


c 


12 3 4 5 



Fig. 123. — Pla^n of a dining 

room with three couches. 
A. Upper couch, lectiis summus. 



according to Vitruvius, should be twice the width. At Pom- 
peii, however, the dimensions are less generous ; with an av- 
erage width of 12 or 13 feet the length rarely exceeds 20 
feet. In many cases one end of the room opened on the 
peristyle, but could be closed by means of broad doors or 
shutters. 

The plan of a typical dining room is given in Fig. 123. The 
couch at the right of the table was called the upper couch ; that 
at the left, the lower; and that between, 
the middle couch. With few exceptions 
each couch was made to accommodate 
three persons ; the diner rested on his 
left arm on a cushion at the side nearer 
the table, and stretched his feet out toward 
the right. Hence, the first on the upper 
couch had what was called * the highest 
place.' The one next was said to recline 

'below' him, because lying on the side b. Middle couch, /^^^/^^ ;«^^/?^5. 
toward which the first person extended his ^- \'^^' '°"'^' ''''''' "'""' 

^ D. iable, mejtsa. 

feet ; the man at the outer end of the lower 

couch was said to be 'at the foot,' iinus. When in the Gospel 
of John we read of a disciple " lying on Jesus' breast," the mean- 
ing is easily explained by reference to Roman usage ; John was 
reclining in the place next below the Master. This arrange- 
ment makes clear to us the reason why the couches were so 
placed that the lower one projected further beyond the table 
than the upper one ; the feet of those on the lower couch were 
extended toward the end furthest from the table. 

To the couches grouped in the manner indicated the same 
name was applied as to the dining room, triclinium. Of those 
in the dining rooms only scanty remains are found. In summer 
the Pompeians, as the Italians of to-day, were fond of dining in 
the open air. In order to save the trouble of . moving heavy 
furniture couches of masonry were not infrequently constructed 
in the garden, and have been preserved ; such a triclinium is 
that in the garden of the tannery (p. 398). The arrangement 
is in most cases precisely that indicated in Fig. 123, the outer 
end of the lower couch projecting beyond the corresponding 




264 POMPEII 

end of the upper one. In the middle stands the base of the 
table, also of masonry ; the top is rarely preserved. Near by is 
a little altar for the offerings made in connection with each 
meal. The appearance of such a triclinium may be inferred 
from that of the triclinium funebre shown in Fig. 245, which 
has a square table and round altar. 

In many gardens we find about the tricHnium the remains of 
four or six columns. These supported a frame of timber or 
lattice-work, upon which vines were trained, 
making a shady bower, as in the garden of 
the tavern in the first Region, referred to 
below (p. 404). 

The couches were ordinarily not provided 
Fig. 124. — Plan of a din- with backs, but the outer ends of the upper 

in? room with an ante- i , , ^' ^ ^ c 

, . . and lower couches sometmres had a frame 

room conlammg an 

altar for libations. to hold the cushious, as indicated in Fig. 123 

A. Room for the table and and showu morc clcarly in our restoration, 

couches. . r>r» T 1 !• • 11 

B. Anteroom with altar. Fig. i88. In the dmmg rooms small mov- 

able altars must have been used for the offer- 
ings, such as those of terra cotta or bronze not infrequently met 
with in the course of excavation. A fixed altar has been found 
in only one instance, in a small dining room in the eighth Region 
(VIII. v-vi. 16). Here, as our plan (Fig. 124) shows, the front 
of the apartment is set off as an anteroom, and in this was placed 
an altar of tufa. 

In accordance with an ancient custom the children, even those 
of the imperial family, sat on low stools at a table of their own 
on the open side of the large table. In an open-air triclinium in 
the ninth Region (IX. v. 11) the children's seat is preserved, a 
low bench of masonry about forty inches long connected with the 
projecting arm of the lower couch (Plate VII.). 

The inner part of the dining room, designed for the table and 
couches, was often distinguished from the free space in the 
same way that the place for the bed was indicated in bedrooms, 
sometimes by a difference in the design of the mosaic floor, more 
frequently by the division of the wall decoration and the arrange- 
ment of the ceiling. In the third and fourth decorative styles 
the division is less plainly marked than in the second ; but often 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 265 

the side walls back of the couches and the inner end of the 
room have each a single large panel with a small panel at the 
right and left, while on each side wall in front are only two 
panels, of the same size. 

In one respect the ordinary dining room was far from con- 
venient ; those who had the inner places could not leave the 
table or return to it in the course of a meal without disturbing 
one or more of those reclining nearer the outside. Large rooms, 
in which an open space was left between the couches and the 
wall, or in which several tables with their sets of couches 
could be placed, w^ere unknown in pre-Roman Pompeii. In 
the time of the Empire a few of these large dining rooms 
were built in older houses. There is one measuring about 
25 by 33 feet in the house of Pansa; another, of which the 
dimensions are 23 by 30 feet, in the house of Castor and Pollux; 
and a third, 36 feet long, in the house of the Citharist. 

In a number of houses we find a large, fine apartment — 
designated by the Greek word oecns — which seems often to 
have been used for a dining room, especially on notable occa- 
sions. A particularly elegant form was the Corinthian oecus, 
which had a row of columns about the sides a short distance 
from the walls, the room being thus divided into a main part 
with a vaulted ceiling and a corridor with a flat ceiling. The 
couches would be placed in the main part ; the guests could 
pass to their places along the corridor, behind the columns. 
The remains of such an oecus may be seen in the houses of 
Meleager and of the Labyrinth. 

A specially interesting example — unfortunately not yet wholly 
excavated — is in the house of the Silver Wedding. In this 
case only the inner part, designed for the couches, is set off 
by columns. We may assume that there was a vaulted ceiling 
over the middle, resting on the entablature of the columns ; that 
the ceiling of the corridor between the columns and the wall 
was flat, and of the same height as the entablature ; and that 
the front part of the room had a flat or slightly arched ceiling 
of the same height as the crown of the vault over the middle. 

In the more pretentious Roman houses there was sometimes 
a dining room for each season of the year ; when Trimalchio in 



266 POMPEII 

Petronius's novel boasts that he has four dinmg rooms, we are 
to understand that he had one each for winter, summer, autumn, 
and spring. In the case of the Pompeian houses we are war- 
ranted in assuming that dining rooms opening toward the south 
were for winter use, those toward the north for use in summer. 
Other airy apartments, with a large window in addition to the 
wide door, may well have been intended for summer triclinia. 
Further than this it is hardly possible to classify Pompeian din- 
ing rooms according to the seasons. 

IX. The Kitchen, the Bath, and the Storerooms 

In the Pompeian house the kitchen had no fixed location. It 
was generally a small room, and was placed wherever it would 
least interfere with the arrangement of the rest of the house. 

The most important part of the kitchen was the hearth. This 
was built of masonry, against one of the walls. It was oblong, 
and the fire was made on the top. The cooking utensils some- 
times rested on rectangular projections of masonry, as in the 
kitchen of the house of Pansa, sometimes on small iron tripods, 
as in the house of the Vettii (Fig. 125). The hearth of the lat- 
ter house was found undisturbed, with a vessel in place ready to 
be heated. In one house the place of an iron tripod was taken 
by three pointed ends of amphorae set upright on the hearth. 
Underneath there was often a hollow place, like that shown in 
our illustration, in which fuel was kept, as in similar openings 
under the hearths of Campanian kitchens to-day. 

Sometimes we find near the hearth a bake oven, not large 
enough to have been used for bread, and evidently intended for 
pastry ; bread must ordinarily have been obtained from the 
bakers. In one of the cellars of the house of the Centenary 
there is a larger oven, which may have been used to bake coarse 
bread for the slaves ; the heat was utilized in warming a bath 
above. 

Over the hearth was a small window to carry off the smoke. 
As the kitchen was ordinarily high there may have been a hole 
in the roof also, but the upper parts have been destroyed, and 
their arrangement cannot be determined. From the small size 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



26^ 



of the kitchens and of the hearths in even the largest and ^nest 
houses, we may infer that the luxury of the table prevalent in fife 
Early Empire had made only slight progress at Pompeii. 

Close by the kitchen, frequently forming a part of it and next 
to the hearth, was the closet ; a separate closet of good size is 
found in the houses of the Faun and of Castor and Pollux. 

In many large houses there is a bath, generally too small to 
have been used by more than one person at a time. These 
baths ordinarily include only a tepidarium and a caldarium, but 
occasionally there is an apodyterium, less frequently still a small 




Fig. 125. — Hearth of the kitchen in the house of the Vettii. 
The arched place underneath is for the storage of fuel. 



frigidarium ; in most cases a basin in the apodyterium or tepida- 
rium must have been used for the cold bath. The heating ar- 
rangements are similar to those found in the public baths, and 
more or less complete according to the period in which the bath 
was fitted up, and the taste of the proprietor ; a progressive refine- 
ment in the appointments of the private baths can be traced simi- 
lar to that which we have already noted in the case of the Stabian 
Baths. The close relation generally existing between the bath- 
rooms and the kitchen is well illustrated in the houses of the 
Faun and of the Silver Wedding. 

In connection with this group of rooms we may mention the 



POMPEII 

200 

storerooms, which are found in various parts of the houses and 
may be identified by the traces of the shelves that were fastened 
to the walls. 

Comparatively few houses were provided with cellars. In the 
house of the Centenary, however, there are two. One, entered 
from the atrium by a stairway, extends under the tablinum and 
the front colonnade of the peristyle ; the other is accessible from 
a side atrium and is divided into several rooms, in one of which 
is the oven mentioned above. The cellar belonging to the house 
of Caecilius Jucundus is under the garden ; that of the villa of 
Diomedes will be described later. 

X. The Shrine of the Household Gods 

In ancient Italy each household worshipped its guardian 
spirits and tutelary divinities, which formed a triple group, the 
Lares, the Penates, and the Genius. In Pompeii the remains 
associated with domestic worship are numerous and important. 

Many Pompeians painted representations of the household 
gods upon an inner wall, often upon a wall of the kitchen, near 
the hearth. There was usually a painted altar underneath, with 
a serpent on either side coming to partake of the offerings. 

In a large number of houses a small niche was made in the 
wall, in which were placed Httle images of the gods, the Lares 
and the Genius being also painted on the back of the cavity or 
on the wall at the sides or below. Such a niche may be seen 
in a corner of the kitchen in the house of Apollo (Fig. 126); the 
pictures of the gods are almost obliterated, but that of the ser- 
pent — in this case there is but one — and of the altar can be 
clearly seen. In front is a small altar of masonry ; the ferns 
and grasses with which the floor is carpeted make this kitchen 
in summer an attractive nook. Sometimes the niches were 
ornamented with diminutive half-columns or pilasters at the 
sides and a pediment above. 

Frequently a more elaborate shrine was provided, a diminutive 
temple raised on a foundation, placed against a wall of the atrium 
or of the garden. An example is the one at the rear of the peri- 
style in the house of the Tragic Poet (Fig. 153). 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



269 



In rare instances a small, separate chapel was devoted to the 
domestic worship, as in the house of the Centenary. In a house 
of the ninth Region (IX. viii. 7) there is such a chapel in the 
garden, a niche for the images being placed in the w^all. 

The Lares are the guardian spirits of the household. Origi- 
nally but one was 



worshipped in each 
house ; they began to 
be honored in plural- 
ity after the time of 
Cicero, and at Pom- 
peii we invariably find 
them in pairs. They 
are represented as 
youths clad in a short 
tunic confined by a 
girdle (Fig. 127), 
stepping lightly or 
dancing, with one 
hand high uplifted in 
which a drinking 
horn, rhyton, is seen ; 
from the end of the 
horn a jet of wine 
spurts in a graceful 
curve, falHng into a 
small pail, si tula, or 
into a libation saucer, 
patella, held in the 
other hand. 

Simple offerings 
were made to these 
beneficent spirits, — 

fruits, sacrificial cakes, garlands, and incense, — and at every 
meal a portion was set aside for them in little dishes. When a 
sacrifice was offered to the Lares, the victim was a pig. 

With the worship of the Lares was associated that of the 
Genius, the tutelary divinity of the master of the house. He is 




Fig. 126. — Niche for the images of the household gods, 

in a corner of the kitchen in the house of Apollo. 
Underneath, a painted serpent represented as about to 

take offerings from a round altar. In front is a 

square altar for the domestic worship. 



2 70 POMPEII 

represented as a standing figure, the face being a portrait of the 
master. The toga is drawn over his head, after the manner of 
one sacrificing; in the left hand there is usually a cornucopia, 
sometimes a box of incense, acerra ; with the right hand he pours 
a drink offering from a patera. 

Very rarely we find a representation of the Genius of the mis- 
tress of the house. In one painting she appears with the 
attributes of Juno ; the Genius of a woman was often called 
Juno, as in the inscription on the bust stone of Tyche, the slave 
of Julia Augusta (p. 418). As a man might swear in the name 
of his Genius, so a woman's oath might be * By my Juno.' 

The Lares and the Genius are often found together both in 
the hearth paintings, and in the groups of little bronze images 
frequently placed in the shrines. They are associated also in 
an inscription on the shrine in the house of Epidius Rufus : Gejiio 
M\_arct~\ n\_ostri\ et Laribns duo Diadumeni libcrti, — 'To the 
Genius of our Marcus and the Lares ; (dedicated by) his two 
freedmen with the name of Diadumenus.' Marcus was the first 
name of the head of the household. 

In a few cases the Genius of the emperor seems to have been 
revered at a house shrine. Horace (Od. IV. v. 34) speaks dis- 
tinctly of the worship of the tutelary divinity of Augustus in 
connection with that of the Lares, — et Laribns humi Miscet 
mimen. On the rear wall of a little chapel in a garden is a 
painted altar at the right of which stands Jupiter, at the left a 
Genius, each pouring a libation. We can scarcely believe that 
the Genius of an ordinary man would thus be placed as it were 
on an equality with the ruler of heaven ; more likely the Genius 
of an emperor is represented, perhaps that of Claudius. The 
face is not unhke the face of Claudius, and the painting is on a 
wall decorated in the third style (Ins. VII. xi. 4). 

In another house (IX. viii. 13) two Genii are painted, and 
under one of them is scratched in large letters EX SC, un- 
doubtedly for ex sejiatiis consiilto, — * in accordance with a decree 
of the Senate.' We are probably safe in assuming that the 
decree referred to is that of the reign of Augustus, by which the 
worship of the Lares was regulated (Dio Cass. LI. xix. 7); if so, 
the figure is intended to represent the Genius of that emperor. 




Fig. 127.— Shrine in the house of the Vettii. 
In the middle the Genius, with libation saucer and box of incense; at the sides, the two 
Lares, each with a drinking horn and pail ; below, a crested serpent about to partake 
of the offerings. 



272 POMPEII 

The face of the Genius in the house of the Vettii (Fig. 127) 
bears a decided resemblance to that of Nero. Here the shrine 
was placed in the rear wall of the smaller atrium. It consists 
of a broad, shallow niche, the front of which is elaborately 
ornamented to give the appearance of a little temple, while on 
the back are painted the household divinities. The Genius 
stands with veiled head between the two Lares, holding in his 
left hand a box of incense and pouring a libation with the right. 
In the original painting the features were unusually distinct. 

The Penates were the protecting divinities of the provisions 
or stores, pemis, and the storerooms of the house ; under this 
name were included various gods to whom the master and the 
household offered special worship. At Pompeii the Penates, as 
the Lares and the Genius, appear in paintings, and are also rep- 
resented by bronze images placed in the shrines. In the shrine 
of the house of Lucretius were diminutive bronze figures of the 
Genius and of Jupiter, Hercules, Fortuna, and another divinity 
that has not been identified. Statuettes of Apollo, Aesculapius, 
Hercules, and Mercury were found, together with those of the 
two Lares, in another house ; in a third, Fortuna alone with the 
Lares. 

Jupiter and Fortuna are frequently met with in shrine paint- 
ings, as well as Venus Pompeiana (Fig. 4), Hercules, Mars, and 
Vulcan as a personification of the hearth fire ; Vesta, the patron 
goddess of bakers, usually appears in the hearth paintings of 
bake shops. 

Underneath the representations of the Lares and Penates 
ordinarily are painted two serpents, one on either side of an 
altar, which they are approaching in order to partake of the 
offerings ; these consist of fruits, in the midst of which an ^g^ 
or a pine cone can usually be distinguished. As early as the 
beginning of the Empire the significance of the serpent in the 
Roman worship had ceased to be clearly understood ; Virgil 
represents Aeneas as in doubt whether the serpent which came 
out from the tomb of Anchises was the attendant of his father 
or the Genius of the place (Aen. V. 95). 

In the Pompeian paintings, when a pair of serpents occurs, 
one may usually be recognized as a male by the prominent 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 273 

crest. They were undoubtedly looked upon as personifications 
of the Genii of the master and mistress of the house. When 
a single crested serpent appears, as in the shrine paintings of 
both the house of the Vettii (Fig. 127) and the house of Apollo 
(Fig. 126), we are to understand that the head of the household 
was unmarried. 



XL Second Story Rooms 

With few exceptions the houses of pre-Roman Pompeii were 
built in only one story ; where the peristyle was in two stories, 
there must have been rooms opening upon the upper colonnade. 
In Roman times, as the population of the city increased and 
more space was needed, it became a common practice to make 
the rooms about the atrium lower and build chambers over 
them. A complete second story was rare ; small rooms were 
added here and there, frequently at different levels and reached 
by different stairways. Sometimes the second story on the 
front side projected a few feet over the street ; an example may 
be seen in a house in the seventh Region (casa del Balcone 
Pensile), the front of which, with the part projecting over the 
sidewalk, has been carefully rebuilt by replacing the charred 
remains of the ancient beams with new timbers. 

Houses with three stories were quite exceptional, and the 
rooms of the third floor must have been unimportant. Along 
the steep slope of the hill, on the west and southwest sides of 
the city, a number of houses are found that present the appear- 
ance of several stories ; they are not properly classed with those 
just mentioned, however, for the reason that the floors are on 
terraces, the highest at the level of the street, the others lower 
down and further back, being adjusted to the descent of the 
ground. 

From the time of Plautus, second story rooms were desig- 
nated as ' dining rooms,' cenacula. Varro says that after it 
became customary to dine upstairs, all upper rooms were called 
cenacula. This explanation is not altogether satisfactory, be- 
cause other literary evidence for the prevalence of such a 
custom is lacking. Perhaps in early times, when, on account 



274 



POMPEII 



of the introduction of the compluvium and impluvium, the 
atrium ceased to be convenient and comfortable for the serving 
of meals, a dining room was frequently constructed on an upper 
floor, and, being the principal second story apartment, gave its 
name to the rest. In some places the ancient custom may still 
have lingered in the time of the Early Empire. 

The upper parts of the Pompeian houses in most cases have 




jpcnmi; 



llic alnuni, 



restored. 



been completely destroyed ; in a few, however, there are traces 
of a second story apartment that was probably used as a dining 
room. 

One of these houses is in Insula xv of Region VII, near the 
temple of Apollo. It is painted in the second style, and dates 
apparently from the end of the Republic. At the rear of the 
atrium are two rooms and a passageway leading to the back of 
the house. Over these was a single large apartment, closed at 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 275 

the sides and rear, but opening on the atrium in its entire 
length; along the front, as seen in our restoration (Fig. 128), 
ran a balustrade connecting the pilasters — ornamented with 
half-columns — which supported the roof. 

In a corner of the atrium at the rear a narrow stairway led 
to the second floor. At the right, as our section shows (Fig. 
129), was a narrow gallery resting on brackets, which connected 
the upper room at the rear with one in the front of the house. 

The large upper room was so well fitted for a dining room, 
especially in summer, that we can hardly resist the conclusion 
that it was designed for this purpose. There is no trace of a 
kitchen on the ground floor ; and for greater convenience this 




F$S^ 


WB& 


-5r > ^ 






"W 




^ 



Fig. 129. — Longitudinal section of the house with a second story dining room. 
At the right, vestibule, door, and fauces, with front room above; then the atrium, with the 
gallery connecting the front room with the dining room ; lastly, the apartments at the 
rear of the house. In this house there was no peristyle. 

also was probably placed in the second story, behind the dining 
room. 

In the fifth Region there was a small dwelling, which after- 
wards became a part of the house of the Silver Wedding; the 
arrangement of the two stories at the rear of the atrium was 
similar to that just described, except that columns were used 
in place of the pilasters, and- there was only the one upper 
room in the back part of the house. In such cases as this ' din- 
ing room ' and * upper story ' might easily have come to be used 
as synonymous terms. 

Where there was a large upper room at the rear of the 
atrium, no place was left for the high tablinum ; in a house in 
the seventh Region (casa dell' Amore Punito, VII. ii. 23) the 



276 



POMPEII 



cenaculum was in front. On the front wall of the atrium one 
may still see part of the carefully hewn stones on which the 
columns of the second story rested, and fragments of these 
columns were found on the floor below. 

XII. The Shops 

The outer parts of the houses fronting on the principal thor- 
oughfares were utiHzed as shops. On the more retired side 
streets there were fewer shops, and we often find a fagade of 
masonry unbroken except for the front door and an occasional 
window. 

The shop fronts were open to the street. The counter, fre- 
quently of masonry, has in most cases the shape indicated on 
our plan (Fig. 130, 2), being so arranged that customers could 
make their purchases, if they wished, without going inside the 

shop. Large jars were often set 
in it, to serve as receptacles for 
the wares and edibles exposed for 
sale. Sometimes on the end next 
to the wall there are little steps, 
on which, as seen in our restora- 
tion (Fig. 131), measuring cups 
and other small vessels were 
placed. At the inner end we 
see now and then a depression 
(3) over which a vessel could be 
heated, a fire being kindled un- 
derneath as on a hearth. In the 
wineshops a separate hearth is 
sometimes found, and occasionally a leaden vessel for heating 
water. 

In the houses of the Tufa Period the shops, as the front 
doors and the rooms about the atrium, were relatively high. 
Those of the house of Caecilius Jucundus measured nearly 16 
feet; those of the house of the Faun, 19 feet; the appearance 
of the latter may be suggested by our restoration (Fig. 139). 
The height was divided by an upper ?iQ>o\, pergnla^ 10 or 12 feet 




Fig. 130. — Plan of a Pompeian shop. 

1. Entrance. 3. Place for a fire. 

2. Counter. 4. Stairway to upper floor. 

5, 5. Back rooms. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 



277 



above the ground, along the open front of which was a balus- 
trade ; the stairs leading to it were inside the shop. On such 
a pergula Apelles, according to Pliny (N. H. xxxv. 84), was 
accustomed to display his paintings ; and in the Digest refer- 
ence is more than once made to cases in which a person passing 
along the street was injured by an object falling upon him from 
the second story of a shop. ' Shops with their upper floors ' 




l<'ig, 131. — A shop for the sale of edibles, restored. 

are advertised for rent in one of the painted inscriptions found 
at Pompeii (p. 489). 

In Roman times the shops, as the inner rooms of the house, 
were built lower, and over them small closed rooms were made, 
which were called by the same name as the open floor, pergula. 
These rooms were frequently accessible from the street by a 
stairway, and in such cases could be rented separately. In 
colloquial language, a man whose early Hfe had been passed 
amid unfavorable surroundings was said to have been ' born in 
a room over a shop,' — ?iatNs in pergula. 



2 78 POMPEII 

Shops were entered by means of small doors; the front was 
closed with shutters. These consisted of overlapping boards 
set upright in narrow grooves at the top and the bottom A 
separate set of shutters was provided for the open pergula. 

XIII. Walls, Floors, and Windows 

The walls were covered with a thick layer of plaster and 
painted; the preparation of the stucco, the processes employed 
in painting, and the styles of decoration are reserved for dis- 
cussion in a later chapter. 

The floors were frequently made of an inexpensive concrete, 
consisting of bits of lava or other stone pounded down into 
common mortar. A much better floor was the Signia pave- 
ment, opits Sigiiinum, so named from a town in Latium. This 
was composed of very small fragments of brick or tile pounded 
into fine mortar. The surface was carefully finished, and was 
sometimes ornamented with geometrical or other patterns traced 
in outline by means of small bits of white stone. 

In the Tufa Period a floor was often made by fitting together 
small pieces of stone or marble, and bedding them well in mor- 
tar. The colors are white and black, — slate is used in the floor 
of the atrium in the house of the Faun ; sometimes also violet, 
yellow, green, and red appear with white and black. Pave- 
ments of square or lozenge-sjiaped and triangular pieces of 
colored marble and slate, like that in the cella of the temple 
of Apollo (Fig. 28), are occasionally found in houses. In the 
time of the Early Empire floors paved with larger slabs were 
not uncommon. 

The mosaics of the Pompeian floors — using the term mosaic 
in a restricted sense — may be divided into two classes, coarse 
and fine. In the former the cubes, tesserae, are on the average 
a little less than half an inch square. The patterns are some- 
times shown in black on a white surface, sometimes worked in 
colors. The finer variety, in which the pictures appear, is not 
often extended over a whole room, but is usually confined to a 
rectangular section in the middle, coarse mosaic being used for 
the rest of the floor. 



THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 279 

The windows at the front of the house, as we have seen, were 
ordinarily few and small. From the Tufa Period, however, 
large windows were often made in the rooms around the peri- 
style ; in the house of the Faun they range in width from 10 to 
23 feet, and are so low that one sitting inside could look out 
through them. Upper rooms, also, were provided with windows 
of good size, sometimes measuring 2|- by 4 feet; but the re- 
mains are scanty. In later times occasionally a lower window 
opening on the street was made almost as large, and was pro- 
tected by an iron grating. 

Windows were ordinarily closed by means of wooden shut- 
terS: Small panes of glass were found in the openings of the 
Baths near the Forum ; had the Central Baths been finished, 
glass would undoubtedly have been used for the windows of 
the caldarium. The window of the tepidarium in the villa of 
Diomedes was closed by four glass panes set in a wooden frame 
(P- 357); ii^ the other houses a narrow pane is occasionally found, 
but invariably set in masonry. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 



THE HOUSE OF THE SURGEON 

The house of the Surgeon (casa del Chirurgo) is the oldest 
of the Pompeian houses that retained to the last, with but slight 
modifications, its original plan and appearance. It lies at the 

right of the Strada Consolare 
(VI. i. lo), about fifty paces 
inside the Herculaneum Gate. 
The name was suggested by 
the discovery of several surgi- 
cal instruments in one of the 
rooms. 

This house was undoubtedly 
built before 200 b.c. The fa- 
cade (Fig. 10) and the walls of 
the atrium are of large hewn 
blocks of Sarno limestone ; 
other inner walls are of Ume- 
stone framework (p. 37). The 
plan conforms to the simple 
Itahc type, before the addition 
of the peristyle ; yet it does not 
illustrate the oldest form of the 
native house, for the tablinum 
(Fig. 132, 7) has already dis- 
placed the recess for the bed 
opposite the front door. The 
measurements of the rooms are according to the Oscan standard 
(p. 44), the atrium being about 30 by 35 Oscan feet. 

We pass directly from the street through the fauces (i) into 
the Tuscan atrium (5) at the sides of which are sleeping 

280 




Fig. 132.- PI 


an of the house of the Surgeon. 


I. Fauces. 




16. Colonnade. 


5. Atrium. 




18. Stairway to rooms 


7. Tablinum. 




over the rear of the 


8, 8. Alae. 




house. 


9, 10. Dining 


rooms. 


19. Room with window 


13. Kitchen, with hearth 


opening on the 


(«). 




garden. 


14. Posticum. 




20. Garden. 



THE HOUSE OF THE SURGEON 281 

rooms (6) and the two alae (8). Back of the tabHnum is a 
colonnade (16) opening on the garden (20), which originally 
had a greater length; the room at the right (19) is a later 
addition, as also the smaller room at the other end (21). The 
roof of the colonnade was carried by square limestone pillars, 
one of which has been preserved in its original form. 

The oblong room at the right of the tablinum (10) was once 
square, as (9). Both were well adapted for winter dining rooms ; 
in summer, meals were undoubtedly served in the tablinum. 
The room at the left of the entrance (2) was a shop, at least 
in later times. The corresponding room on the other side 
(6') was retained for domestic use. 

The shop at the right (3) and the back room (4), as well as 
the kitchen with the adjoining rooms at the rear, used as store 
closets and quarters for slaves, were a later addition ; 22 is a 
light court, to which the rain water was conducted from differ- 
ent parts of the roof. Over these rooms was a second story 
reached by stairs leading from the colonnade (18). It may be 
that this part of the house took the place of a garden in which 
previously there was an outside kitchen ; that the ground be- 
longed to the house from the beginning is clear from the exist- 
ence of a door between 4he rooms 6' and 3, afterwards walled 
up, and the appearance of the unbroken party wall on this 
side. 

The rooms about the atrium had no upper floor, and were 
relatively high ; the doors measured nearly twelve feet in height, 
and the ceiling of the tabHnum was not far from twenty feet above 
the floor. In respect to height, this house was not unlike those 
of the next period. 

In the later years of the city, but before 63, the decoration 
was renewed in the fourth style. There are paintings of inter- 
est, however, only in the room at the rear (19), which had a 
large window opening on the garden. In one of the panels 
here we see a man sitting with a writing tablet in his hand; 
opposite him are two girls, one sitting, the other standing ; the 
latter holds a roll of papyrus. This kind of genre picture is not 
uncommon; the type is spoken of elsewhere (p. 477). 

In another panel, which was transferred to the Naples 



282 



POMPEII 



Museum, a young woman is represented as painting a herm 
of Dionysus (Fig. 133); a Cupid is holding the unfinished pic- 
ture while she mixes colors on her palette. Two other maid- 
ens are watching the artist with unfeigned interest. Upon the 
pillar behind the herm hangs a small painting ; in the vista 
another herm is seen, together with a vase standing on a pillar. 




Fig. 133. — A young woman painting a herm. 
Wall painting from the house of the Surgeon. 



The room contained a third picture which is now almost 
obliterated. Perhaps this pleasant apartment was once the 
boudoir of a favorite daughter, who busied herself with painting 
and verse. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

THE HOUSE OF SALLUST 

The house of Sallust (VI . ii. 4) received its name from an 
election notice, painted on the outside, in which Gains Sallustius 
was recommended for a municipal office. It has no peristyle, 
and its original plan closely resembled that of the house of the 
Surgeon. It was built in the second century B.C. ; the architec- 
ture is that of the Tufa Period, and the well preserved decora- 
tion of the atrium, tablinum, alae, and the dining room at the 
left of the tablinum (Fig. 134, 22) is of the first style. The 
pilasters at the entrances of the alae and the tablinum are also 
unusually well preserved ; the house is among the most impor- 
tant for our knowledge of the period to which it belongs. 

The rooms on the left side (6-9) were used as a bakery. 
Those in front (2-5) were shops; two of them (2, 3), at the 
time of the destruction of the city, opened into the fauces (i) 
and another (5) had two rear rooms, one of which was entered 
from a side street. 

The rooms at the right (31-36) were private apartments 
added later and connected with the rest of the house only by 
means of the corridor (29), which with the cell designed for the 
porter (30) was made over from one of the side rooms of the 
atrium. 

If we leave these groups of rooms out of consideration, it is 
easy to see that the Tuscan atrium and the apartments con- 
nected with it — the tabhnum (19), the alae (17), and the rooms 
at the sides — once formed a symmetrical whole. At the rear 
was a garden on two sides (24, 24'), with a colonnade. A 
broad window in the rear of the left ala opened into this colon- 
nade (p. 259), a part of whicii was afterwards enclosed, mak- 
ing two small rooms (23, 18). At the end of the latter 

283 



284 



POMPEII 



room a stairway was built leading to chambers ; in the begin- 
ning the house had no second floor. 

The andron (20), the wardrobe (17') at the side of the right 
ala, and the small room back of it (28) were made out of a 
square room corresponding in dimensions with that at the other 




□ 


1 


1 

JS 


^ 


Fl 


a 




1 





iE 


• Irl 






j)^ 


^ 


==^B9 



ff S /o /'L /// JG fS 20 M. 



Fig. 134. — Plan of the house of Sallust. 

Fauces. 2, 3. Shops opening on the fauces. 4, 5. Shops. 6-9. Bakery (6. Mill 

room with three mills {a), and stairway to upper floor. 7. Oven. 8. Kneading room.) 

9. Kitchen. 10. Tuscan atrium, with impluvium (11) . 12. Anteroom leading to din- 

ing room (13). 17,17- Alae. 19. Tablinum. 20. Andron, with doors at both ends. 

21. Colonnade opening on the garden (24, 24'). 25. Garden triclinium. 29-36. Private 

apartments, added in Roman times to the older dwelling (31. Colonnade. 32. Garden. 

33, 34. Sleeping rooms. 35. Dining room. 36. Kitchen.) 



end of the tablinum (22). The latter was originally entered 
from the atrium by a door at e, which was closed when the wide 
door was made at the rear opening upon the colonnade. At 
the rear of the tablinum is a broad window. 



THE HOUSE OF SALLUST 285 

In the corner of the garden is an open-air triclinium (25), 
over which vines could be trained ; there was a small altar (7) 
near by. At 7i a jet of water spurted from an opening in the 
wall upon a small platform of masonry ; the water was perhaps 
conducted into the rectangular basin {k) opposite, the inside of 
which was painted blue. Only the edges of this portion of the 
garden, which is higher than the floor of the colonnade, were 
planted; steps led up to it at/ and ^. A hearth (/) was placed 
in the colonnade at the left, for the preparation of the viands 
served in the triclinium. The room at the other end of the 
garden {t,']) was connected with the street at the rear by a 
posticum ; back of it was an open space (26) with remains of 
masonry {m\ the purpose of which is not clear. 

The large dining room (13) may once have belonged to the 
bakery; the anteroom (12) leading to it was made from one of 
the side rooms of the atrium. The arrangement recalls that of 
the dining room of which the plan is given in Fig. 124. 

The appearance of the atrium in its original form may be 
suggested by our restoration (Fig. 135). The proportions are 
monumental. The treatment of the entrances to the tablinum 
and the alae, with pilasters joined by projecting entablatures, 
the severe and simple decoration (illustrated in Fig. 261), and 
the admission of light through the compluvium increased the 
apparent height of the room and gave it an aspect of dignity 
and reserve. At the rear we catch glimpses of the vines and 
shrubs at the edge of the garden ; painted trees and bushes were 
also seen upon the garden w^all. 

The series of apartments entered through the room at the 
right of the atrium (29) present a marked contrast with the rest 
of the house. They are low% the eight-sided, dark-red columns 
of the colonnade (31), with their white capitals, being less than 
ten feet high ; and the dark shades of the decoration, which is in 
the fourth style upon a black ground, give a gloomy impression 
to one coming from the atrium with its masses of brilliant color. 

There was a small fountain in the middle of the little garden 
(32), the rear wall of which is covered by a painting represent- 
ing the fate of Actaeon, torn to pieces by his own hounds as a 
penalty for having seen Diana at the bath. At first the colon- 



'M 



POMPEII 



nade had a flat roof, with an open walk above on the three 
sides; but when the large dining room (35) was constructed, 
the flat roof and promenade on this side were replaced by a 
sloping roof over the broad entrance to the dining room. On 
the outer walls of the two sleeping rooms (33, 34) were two 




Fig. 135. — Atrium of the house of Sallust, looking through the labHnum and colonnade 
at the rear into the garden, restored. 

paintings of similar design, Europa with the bull, Phrixus and 
Helle with the ram. The rear inner wall of 34 contained two 
pairs of lovers, Paris and Helen in the house of Menelaus, and 
Ares and Aphrodite. The room at the corner of the colonnade 
(36) is the kitchen ; the stairway in it led to the flat roof of the 
colonnade. 

This portion of the house probably dates from the latter part 
of the Republic ; it underwent minor changes in the course of 
the century during which it was used. Previously there was in 



THE HOUSE OF SALLUST 



287 



all probability a garden on this side, into which opened a large 
window in the rear wall of the right ala, afterwards closed. 

The changes made in the stately house of the pre-Roman 
time are most easily explained on the supposition that near the 
beginning of the Empire it was turned into a hotel and restau- 
rant. The shop at the left of the entrance (3) opens upon the 
atrium as well as on the street ; the principal counter is on the 
side of the fauces, and near the inner end is a place for heating 
a vessel over the fire. Large jars were set in the counter, and 
there was a stone table in the middle of the room. Here edi- 
bles and hot drinks were sold to those inside the house as well 
as to passers-by. The shop at the right of the entrance was 



^ 




Fig. 136. — Longitudinal section of the house of Sallust, restored. 
At the left, the fauces with the counter of the shop; then the north side of the atrium with 
the entrance of the left ala, the north side of the tablinum, with one of the pilasters at 
the entrance from the atrium ; lastly, the colonnade at the back and the vine-covered 
triclinium in the corner of the garden. 



connected with the fauces, the atrium, and a side room (16). 
The number of sleeping rooms had been increased by changes 
in several of the earlier apartments, and by the addition of a 
second floor reached by the stairway in room 18. The private 
apartments were for the use of the proprietor, and were guarded 
against the intrusion of the guests of the inn by the porter 
stationed at the entrance (in 30). 

This explanation is confirmed by the close connection of the 
bakery with the house ; and the use of the open-air triclinium 
is entirely consistent with it (p. 404). The arrangement of 
the house after it had become an inn may be seen in our sec- 
tion (Fig. 136). 



CHAPTER XXXVI 



THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 



The house of the Faun, so named from the statue of a 
dancing satyr found in it (Fig. 258), was among the largest 
and most elegant in Pompeii. It illustrates for us the type of 
dwelling that wealthy men of cultivated tastes living in the 
third or second century B.C. built and adorned for themselves. 
The mosaic pictures found on the floors (now in the Naples Mu- 
seum) are the most beautiful that have survived to modern times. 




Fig. 137. — Plan of the house of the Faun 

A. Fauces of Tuscan atrium 

B. Tuscan atrium. 

C. C. Alae. 

D. Tablinum. 



I, J. Dining rooms. c, c' . Alae of tetrastyle atrium. 

K. Second peristyle. e. Storeroom. 

L. Large room used as wine- /,/'. Sleeping rooms, 

cellar. o, o' . Bath. 



E, F. Dining rooms. 
G. First peristyle. 
H. Exedra with mosaic of the 
battle of Alexander. 



M. Kitchen. 
N. Bedroom. 

a. Vestibule. 

b. Tetrastyle atrium. 



q. Gardener's room. 

r. Doorkeeper's room. 

V. Broad niche for three statues. 

1-4. Shops. 



The wall decoration, which is of the first style, in the more im- 
portant rooms was left unaltered to the last, and is well preserved. 
This decoration, however, does not date from the building of 
the house. In order to protect the painted surfaces against 
moisture, the walls in the beginning were carefully covered with 
sheets of lead before they were plastered. Later two doorways 



THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 289 

were walled up, and the plastering over the apertures, which 
was applied directly to the wall surface without the use of 
lead sheathing, forms with its decoration an inseparable part of 
that found on either side. When the original decoration was 
replaced by that which we see on the walls to-day it is im- 
possible to determine, but the change must have been made 
before the first century b.c. A few unimportant rooms are 
painted in the second and fourth styles. 

An entire block (VI. xii.), measuring approximately 315 by 
115 feet, is given to the house; there are no shops except the 
four in front (Fig. 137). The apartments are arranged in four 
groups : a large Tuscan atrium, B, with living rooms on three 
sides; a small tetrastyle atrium, b, with rooms for domestic 
service around it and ex- 1 

tending on the right side I . .^ 

toward the rear of the ™^~ ■ . ^»8iwi»rn-«TrTnwiir ^ \ 

house ; a peristyle, G, the ^Wg/g^^^^UBB^^^^^^^^^^^ 
depth of which equals the IHIBIIHHHiHil^^^ll^^ 
width of the large and half j . \ _ _ ^ 

that of the small atrium; „ ^ o ^ ^.v. • .u , 

Fig. 138. — Part of the cornice over the large 

and a second peristyle, K, frontdoor, 

occupying more than a 

third of the block. At the rear of the second peristyle is a 
series of small rooms {^-u) the depth of which varies accord- 
ing to the deviation of the street at the north end of the insula. 

In front of the main entrance we read the word HAVE (more 
commonly written ave), ' Welcome ! ' spelled in the sidewalk 
with bits of green, yellow, red, and white marble. The street 
door here, quite exceptionally, was at the outer end of the vesti- 
bule. It consisted of three leaves (seen in Fig. 139) and opened 
toward the inside, while the double door between the vestibule 
and the fauces (A on the plan) opened toward the outside; the 
closed vestibule was not unlike those of many modern houses. 
Fragments of the lintel over the outer door, with its projecting 
dentil cornice, are preserved in one of the shops (Fig. 138). 

The shops with their upper floors, pergulae^ were nine- 
teen feet high. When the shutters were up they presented 
a monotonous appearance (Fig. 139), but on sunny days, when 



290 



POMPEII 



the articles offered for sale were attractively displayed, and 
buyers and idlers were loitering in front or leisurely passing 
from one to the other, shops and street alike were full of color 
and animation. 

The floor of the fauces, as of many of the other rooms, is rich 
in color. It is made of small triangular pieces of marble and 



n 



ei 



an. 



Illllilli 



inn 



L i::lLl.l i 



i:& 




"tSS 



2 3 4 5 e 7 S 3 lot 



Fig. 139. — Fafade of the house of the Faun, restored. 
At the left, the front of a shop (i on the plan) with its upper floor; then the large front 
door, two shops, the entrance of the smaller atrium and the fourth shop, which, like the 
second, is completely closed by shutters. 

slate — red, yellow, green, white, and black. At the inner end 
it was marked off from the floor of the atrium by a stripe of 
finely executed mosaic, suggestive of a threshold (Fig. 140), 
now in the Naples Museum. Two tragic masks are reahstically 
outlined, appearing in the midst of fruits, flowers, and garlands, 
the details of which are worked out with much skill. 




Fig. 140. — Border of mosaic with tragic masks, fruits, flowers, and garlands, at the inner 

end of the fauces. 



The walls of the fauces are ornamented in an unusual manner. 
The ordinary decoration of the first style is carried to the height 
of eight feet. Above this on either side projects a tufa shelf 



THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 291 

about sixteen inches wide, on which is placed the facade of a 
diminutive temple; that on the left is seen in Fig. 141. The 
front of the cella, with closed doors, is presented in relief, but 
the four columns of the portico stand free. The shelf is sup- 
ported underneath by a cornice which rested originally on stucco 
brackets in the shape of dogs ; the underside is carved to repre- 
sent a richly ornamented coffered ceiling. 

The atrium was a room of imposing dimensions. The length 
is approximately 53 feet, the breadth 33; the height, as indi- 
cated by the remains of the walls and the pilasters, was cer- 
tainly not less than 28 feet. Above was a coffered ceiling. 
The sombre shade of the floor, paved with small pieces of dark 
slate, formed an effective contrast with the white limestone 
edge and brilliant inner surface of the shallow impluvium, cov- 
ered with pieces of colored marbles similar to those in the 
fauces. Still more marked was the contrast in the strong colors 
of the walls. Below was a broad surface of black ; then a pro- 
jecting white dentil cornice, and above this, masses of dark red, 
bluish green, and yellow. The decoration, as usual in the first 
style, was not carried to the ceiling, but stopped just above the 
side doors ; the upper part of the wall was left in the white. 

As one stepped across the mosaic border at the end of the 
fauces, a beautiful vista opened up before the eyes. From the 
aperture of the compluvium a diffused light was spread through 
the atrium brilliant with its rich coloring. At the rear the lofty 
entrance of the tablinum attracted the visitor by its stately 
dignity. Now the portieres are drawn aside, and beyond the 
large window of the tablinum the columns of the first peristyle 
are seen (Fig. 141). The shrubs and flowers of the garden are 
bright with sunshine, and fragrant odors are wafted through the 
house ; in the midst a slender fountain jet rises in the air and 
falls with a murmur pleasant to the ear. If the vegetation w^as 
not too luxuriant, one might look into the exedra, on the further 
side of the colonnade, and even catch glimpses of the trees and 
bushes in the garden of the second peristyle. 

Of the rooms at the side of the atrium, one {/') was appar- 
ently the family sleeping room ; places for two beds were set 
off by shght elevations in the floor. This room had been care- 



292 



POMPEII 



fully redecorated in the second style ; the room opposite, the 
decoration of which was inferior to that of the rest, was perhaps 
used by the porter (atriensis). 

The tablinum (D), like that of the house of Sallust, had a 
broad window opening on the colonnade of the peristyle. In 
the middle of this room is a rectangular section paved with loz- 
enge-shaped pieces of black, white, and green stone ; the rest of 
the floor is of white mosaic. The floor of each ala was orna- 
mented with a mosaic picture. In that at the left (C) are doves 
pulling a necklace out of a casket — a work of sHght merit. 






^^^^^^^^^^^te>^ ' ) err- 1^ — -^rrr^ ^^^^^^^^^^H 




Vestibule Fauces 
Door 



Tuscan atrium with compluviuin and 
inipluvium (B) 



Ala (C) Tahlinuni (D) 

Fig. 141. — Longitudinal section of tlie house of the Faun, showing the large 



The mosaic picture found in the right ala is characterized by 
delicacy of execution and harmonious coloring. It is divided 
into two parts ; above is a cat with a partridge ; below, ducks, 
fishes, and shellfish. A large window in the rear wall of this 
ala opens into the small atrium, not for the admission of light, 
but for ventilation ; in summer there would be a circulation of 
air between the two atriums. 

Two doors, at the right and the left of the tablinum (seen in 
Fig. 143), opened into large dining rooms, one (E) nearly square, 
the other (F) oblong. Both had large windows on the side 
of the peristyle, and the one at the left also a door opening 
upon the colonnade. The mosaic pictures in the floors har- 
monized well with the purpose of the rooms. In one were fishes 
of various kinds, and sea monsters ; in the other was the picture 



THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 



293 



— often reproduced — in which the Genius of the autumn is rep- 
resented as a vine-crowned boy sitting on a panther and drink- 
ing out of a deep golden bowl. 

The colonnade of the first peristyle was of one story (Fig. 
141). The entablature of the well proportioned Ionic columns 
presented a mixture of styles often met with in Pompeii, a Doric 
frieze with a dentil cornice. The wall surfaces were divided by 
pilasters and decorated in the first style. In the middle of the 
garden the delicately carved standard of a marble fountain basin 
may still be seen. 




First peristyle with colonnade and fountain basin (G) Exedra (H) 

atrium, the first peristyle, and a corner of the second peristyle, restored. 



Corner of the second 
peristyle (K) 



The open front of the broad exedra (H) was adorned with two 
columns, and at the rear was a window extending almost from 
side to side, opening upon the second peristyle. Between the 
columns of the entrance were mosaic pictures of the creatures 
of the Nile, — hippopotamus, crocodile, ichneumon, and ibis ; 
and in the room, filling almost the entire floor, was the most 
famous of ancient mosaic pictures, the battle between Alexander 
and Darius. 

This great composition has so often been reproduced that we 
need not present it here ; as illustrating the style and treatment, 
however, we give a small section, in which the face of Alexander 
appears (Fig. 142). The mosaic is a reproduction of a painting 
made either in the lifetime of Alexander, or soon after his death. 
The battle is perhaps that of Issus. The left side of the picture 



294 



POMPEII 



is unfortunately only in part preserved. At the head of the 
Greek horsemen rides Alexander, fearless, unhelmeted, leading a 
charge against the picked guard of Darius. The long spear of 
the terrible Macedonian is piercing the side of a Persian noble, 
whose horse sinks under him. The driver of Darius's chariot 
is putting the lash to the horses, but the fleeing king turns with 
an expression of anguish and terror to witness the death of his 
courtier, the mounted noblemen about him being panic-stricken 




Fig. 142. — Detail from the mosaic piciuKj iLpif^ciiiing a battle between Alexander and 

Darius. 

Alexander, having thrown aside his helmet, is leading the charge upon the guard of Darius, 

who is already in flight. 



at the resistless onset of the Greeks. The grouping of the com- 
batants, the characterization of the individual figures, the skill 
with which the expressions upon the faces are rendered, and the 
delicacy of coloring give this picture a high rank among ancient 
works of art. The colors in the mosaic are necessarily more 
subdued than in the original painting. 

A corridor (/), both ends of which could be closed, led from 
the first to the second peristyle. The columns here, of the 
Doric order, were of brick, with tufa capitals, the shafts being 
edged, not fluted. The entablature rested on a line of timbers, as 
often in the buildings of the Tufa Period. In our restoration 



THE HOUSP: of the faun 295 

(Fig. 141) an upper colonnade of the Ionic order is assumed, 
extending about the four sides. The restoration is here possibly 
at fault ; the colonnade may have been in two stories only on 
the south side, with twice as many columns above as below. 

On either side of the exedra were two dining rooms (I, J), one 
open in its entire breadth upon the second peristyle, the other 
having a narrow door with two windows. The fine mosaic 
picture in I was found in so damaged a condition that the sub- 
ject — a lion standing over a prostrate tiger — could not be made 
out, until a duplicate was discovered in 1885. 

In the sleeping room on the other side of the corridor (N), 
which had been redecorated in the second style, remains of two 
beds were found. The room next to it (L) was the largest in 
this part of the house ; at the time of the eruption it was with- 
out decoration and was used as a wine cellar. A great number 
of amphorae were found in it, as also in both peristyles. 

One of the small rooms at the rear {q) was perhaps occupied 
by the gardener ; the one next to it (r) was the doorkeeper's 
room. At 7; is a long, shallow niche, designed for statues. 
Nearer the corner were two smaller niches, each of which was 
ornamented in front with pilasters and a gable. These were 
the shrines of the household gods ; in front of them were found 
two bronze tripods, two bronze lamp stands, two pairs of iron 
tongs, a couple of common lamps, and the remains of a branch 
of laurel with the bones and eggs of a dove that had nested in 
it. A bronze statuette of a Genius was found seemingly in 
one of the niches. 

The domestic apartments were entered by a front door 
between the two shops at the right (Fig. 139). The vestibule, 
unlike that of the other entrance, is open to the street, the 
fauces being narrower and deeper. The relation of the tetra- 
style to the Tuscan atrium is indicated in our transverse section 
(Fig. 143). The alae {c, c') are here at the middle of the sides; 
the one at the left served as a passageway between the two 
atriums. The four tufa Corinthian columns, nearly twenty feet 
high, are well preserved, as well as the pilasters at the entrances 
of the alae. A tablinum was not needed in this part of the 
house, and the space which it might have occupied was given 



296 



POMPEII 



to the andron {k) and a sleeping room opening on the first 
peristyle (/). 

This part of the house was much damaged by the earthquake 
of 63, and there are many traces of repairs, particularly in the 
upper rooms. The walls were simply painted in the fourth 
style. Two money chests stood on large flat stones in the rear 
corners of this atrium. 

In one of the rooms at the front (e) there are traces of 
shelves; stairs at one side led to the upper rooms at the left 
of the atrium, the shape and size of which are indicated in 
¥\g. 143. On the right, also, there were small chambers over 




Sleeping room (f) Tuscan atrium (B) with en- Loft alu (c) Tetrastylo atrium (b) 

trance of tablinuni (D) of tetrastyle atrium 

Fig. T43. — Transverse section of the house of the Faun, showing the two atriums with 

adjoining rooms. 



g, h, and //, on the same level as the second floor of the shop 
in front (4), and accessible only by means of the stairway in 
this shop ; there were no other stairs in this corner of the 
house, and these rooms could not have been connected with 
chambers over other parts of the atrium, because there were no 
upper rooms over the fauces and the right ala {c'). Another 
stairway in d, partly of wood, led to chambers over i, d' , n' , n, 
0, 0' , and part of the kitchen, M. 

Bronze vessels and remains of ivory feet belonging to a bed- 
stead were found in the double room h, h' ; but it is more likely 
that this was used as a storeroom for discarded furniture than 
that members of the family slept here. 

A long corridor at the end of the first peristyle (in) con- 



THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 297 

nected the rooms at the right of the small atrium with the 
closet (;/), the bath {0, 0'), the kitchen (M), and the large bed- 
room (N) opening on the second peristyle. The two rooms of 
the bath, tepidarium and caldarium, were provided with hollow 
floors and walls, and were heated from the kitchen, into which 
the draft vents (p. 188) opened; in order to make the smoke 
less objectionable, the kitchen was built very high, with several 
windows. 

The kitchen is of unusual size. A niche for the images of 
the household gods was placed in the wall at the left, so high 
up that it could only have been reached by means of a ladder. 
The front is shaped to resemble the fagade of a small temple, 
and in it is a small altar of terra cotta for the burning of 
incense. 

The first room at the right of the corridor (;/)was completely 
excavated in 1900, and found to be a stall. In it were brought 
to light the skeletons of two cows and of four human beings, an 
adult and three children. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 




CTbc 



CrTT. 



1 r-n 



A HOUSE NEAR THE PORTA MARINA 

The height of the important rooms can be accurately deter- 
mined in so few houses of the Tufa Period, that special impor- 
tance attaches to a house on the edge of the city north of the 

Porta Marina (No. 
13), in which not 
merely the three-quar- 
ter columns at the en- 
trance of the tablinum, 
but also the pilasters 
at the corners of the 
fauces and alae and part 
of the Ionic columns of 
the peristyle are seen 
in their full height. 
The atrium is the best 
preserved of any in 
the large pre-Roman 
houses, and the height of the ceiling in several of the adjoining 
rooms is clearly indicated. The house lies about seventy paces 
north of the Strada della Marina, on the last street leading to the 
right. It is without a name and is seldom visited. 

Neither the decoration, renewed in the second style and with- 
out paintings, nor the arrangement of the rooms (Fig. 144) re- 
quires extended comment. There are two atriums, the smaller 
with the domestic apartments being at the left and entered directly 
from the street. The fauces of the other are of unusual width, 
being about two fifths of the width of the atrium. The alae are 
at the middle of the sides, as in the house of Epidius Rufus and 
the smaller atrium of the house of the Faun. At the sides of 

298 



Fig. 144. — Plan of the house near the Porta Marina. 



A HOUSE NEAR THE PORTA MARINA 



299 



the tablinum are large windows opening into two dining rooms, 
which are entered from the peristyle. 

More than a third of the plot enclosed by the peristyle is taken 
up by a deep rectangular basin for fish. At the rear are appar- 
ently other rooms, adjusted to the slope of the ground, which, 
however, have not yet been excavated. 

It will, perhaps, be easier to appreciate the stately character of 
the pre-Roman atriums if we give a few of the dimensions which 
were used in making our restoration (Fig. 145). 

The atrium is 41 by 29 feet. The tablinum measures 13 feet 
9 inches between the three-quarter columns which stand, in 
place of the usual pilasters, at the entrance ; it is thus half as 
wide as the atrium. The height of the tabhnum at the entrance 



p<i^'V^*iV>=a-J4-V»=3-f.> t>t i-i ii ¥^^i^^ 




Fauces 
VL-stibule 



Ala 
A trill 111 



Fig. 145. — Longitudinal section of the house near the Porta Marina. 



is 18 feet 6 inches ; according to the proportions given by Vitru- 
vius it should be 1 5 feet 4 inches. 

The alae and fauces also exceed the dimensions presented by 
the Roman architect, the former being I2| feet wide and 16J 
feet high, while the height of the broad fauces, ly^ feet, is only 
a trifle less than that of the tablinum. 

The height of the walls of the atrium is easily determined 
with the help of the data before us ; and the arrangement of 
the roof over the fauces, atrium, tablinum, and colonnade of 
the peristyle must have been very similar to that shown in our 
restoration. The entablature seen over the entrance of the left 
ala is restored in accordance with the architectural forms com- 
monly used in the period when the house was built. 

Both the three-quarter columns and the pilasters present a 
peculiarity of construction found also in other houses, but not 



300 POMPEII 

easy to explain. The former appear as half-columns on the side 
of the tablinum, but present fully three fourths of their breadth 
on the side of the atrium. The pilasters at the entrances of the 
alae and fauces have, on the inside, a good proportion, the 
breadth being about one eighth of the height ; but on the out- 
side, toward the atrium, they are much more slender. 

A well designed scroll pattern appears in the black and white 
mosaic floor of the fauces, which, as often in Pompeian houses, 
slopes gently toward the street. The floor of the atrium is made 
of black mosaic with pieces of colored marble arranged in rows, 
and white stripes at the edges. The base of a shrine for the 
household gods stands against the right wall. In the first room 
at the right was an alcove for a bed opposite the door ; the ceil- 
ing of the alcove, in the form of a vault, was lower than that of 
the rest of the room. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

THE HOUSE OF THE SHVER WEDDING 

Among the more interesting of the large houses excavated in 
the last decade is the house of the Silver Wedding, which marks 
the limit of excavation in the fifth Region (V. ii. a on Plan 
VI). The main part was cleared in 1892 (Fig. 8) ; and in April, 
1893, in connection with the festivities with which the Silver 
Wedding of the King and Queen of Italy was celebrated, a 
special excavation was made in one of the rooms, in the presence 
of their Majesties and of their imperial guests, the Emperor 
and Empress of Germany. Portions of the house are still cov- 
ered, the facade, the inner end of the oecus, and the greater 
part of an extensive garden on the left side. 

Notwithstanding the extent of the house — the greatest length 
is not far from 150 feet, the breadth of the excavated portion 
130 — and the number of apartments, the plan is simple (Fig. 
146). From the fauces {a) we pass into a tetrastyle atrium 
{d\ the largest of its kind yet discovered, with alae on either 
side and a high tablinum {0). Back of this is a Rhodian peri- 
style, at the rear of which is an exedra (j/) with sleeping rooms 
at the right and the left {x, z). Opening into the rear of the 
peristyle on one side is the oecus (4), on the other a long dining 
room {w^. 

Another series of apartments lay between the peristyle and 
the garden at the right (2), a kitchen {s\ and a bath {t-z^. In 
front of the garden and extending to the street is a small house 
(a-t) which had been joined to the larger establishment; it was 
connected with this by a small door under the stairs in the corner 
of the atrium (/3), which opened into a side room {e) of the large 
atrium. 

The essential parts of the house date from the Tufa Period. 
Alterations were made from time to time in the course of the 

301 



:02 



POMPEII 



rm-, 



two centuries during which it was occupied, but they were not 
so extensive as to obscure the original plan. The most obvious 
changes were those affecting the wall decoration. 

In the small rooms at the right of the atrium are traces of the 

decoration of the first 
style, which was in 
vogue when the house 
was built. Toward 
the end of the Repub- 
lic almost the whole in- 
terior was redecorated 
in the second style, but 
without paintings. 
Brilliant blocks and 
panels dating from 
this renovation may 
still be seen upon the 
upper part of the walls 
of the atrium and on 
those of the oecus, the 
exedra, the two bed- 
rooms next to the exe- 
dra, and the front part of 
the long apodyterium. 
Afterwards a few 
rooms were done over 
in the third style, of 
which scanty remains 
are found. 

Lastly, after the 
fourth style had come 
into vogue, but before 
60 A.D. — as shown by 
an inscription on a col- 
umn of the peristyle — a large part of the house was redecorated 
in the fourth style, including the tablinum, the andron and the 
room at the right {q\ the peristyle, the long dining room (zv), 
and the inner portion of the apodyterium. The lower part of 




Fig. 146. — Plan of the house of the Sih^er Wedding. 


a. Fauces. 




I. 


Open-air svvimmin*; tank, in 


d. Tetrastyle atrium. 






a small garden (2}. 


n. Dining room. 




3- 


Corridor leading to another 


0. Tablinum. 






house and to a side street. 


/. Andron. 




4- 


Oecus. 


r. Peristyle. 




6. 


Garden, partially excavated. 


s. Kitchen. 




7- 


Open-air triclinium. 


t-v. Bath. {v. Apodyterium. 


a- 


I. Fauces, atrium, and other 


■n. Tepidarium. t. 


Cal- 




rooms of separate dwelling 


darium.) 






connected with the larger 


w. Summer dining room 






house. 


X, z. Sleeping rooms. 








y. Exedra. 









THE HOUSE OF THE SILVER WEDDING 303 

the walls of the atrium were also painted over, but with de- 
signs and coloring that harmonized well with the decoration of 
the second style above. In this house the history of Pompeian 
wall decoration can be followed from the century after the Sec- 
ond Punic War to the middle of the lirst century of our era, from 
the time of Cato the Elder to that of Claudius and Nero. There 
are few paintings, however, and they are not of special interest. 

In marked contrast with the atriums in the house of the Faun 
and the other houses which we have examined, the atrium here 
had a relatively large compluvium (Fig. 147); all parts of the 
room must have been brilliantly lighted. In summer some kind 
of protection against the sun was a necessity. It was probably 
afforded by hanging curtains between the columns ; on the side 
of each column, facing the corner of the atrium, is a bronze 
ring through which a cord might have been passed to use in 
drawing the curtains back and forth. The large compluvium 
with its supporting columns suggests the arrangement of the 
Corinthian atrium. 

The dimensions of the atrium are monumental. The length 
is approximately 54 feet, the breadth 40 ; and the Corinthian 
columns of tufa coated with stucco, are 22| feet high. 

At the rear of the impluvium is a fluted cistern curb of white 
marble (seen in Fig. 8). In the impluvium near the edge is the 
square pedestal of a fountain figure, which threw a jet into a 
round marble basin in front. 

The doors of the rooms at the sides of the atrium were origi- 
nally more than thirteen feet high ; those which we now see are 
comparatively low. The height was reduced because a second 
floor was placed in the rooms, thus making low chambers, 
which were reached by three stairways, one (^) at the right of 
the atrium, the other two (k and m) on the opposite side. The 
upper rooms were lighted by small windows, part of which 
opened into the atrium, others upon the garden on the left side 
of the house. These changes were completed before the atrium 
received its decoration in the second style. There was no sec- 
ond story over the alae, the tablinum, or the rooms about the 
peristyle. In the left ala was once a large window opening on 
the garden, but it was afterwards walled up (p. 259). 



304 



POMPEII 



The curtain fastenings on the pilasters at the front of the 
tablinum have been referred to in another connection (p. 256). 
The arrangement of the rooms at the sides is not unlike that in 
the house of Sallust ; one, n, retained its original form ; the 
other was divided up into an andron (/>), with a bedroom {q) at 
one side. 

The peristyle is remarkably well preserved. We find not only 
the columns in their full height, but also, except on the north 
side, large portions of the entablature, with its stucco ornamen- 
tation intact, supported on a line of planks placed upon the 
columns at the time of excavation ; and the decoration of the 
walls retains much of its brilliancy of coloring. 




Fig. 147. 



Ala TuljUiiuiii 

- Longitudinal section of 



The colonnade of this peristyle has been mentioned elsewhere 
as illustrating the Rhodian form (p. 260). The difference in 
height between the colonnade in front and on the other three 
sides was accentuated in the decoration. On the walls in front 
are large red panels separated by architectural designs on a 
yellow background ; the walls under the lower part of the colon- 
nade were painted with black panels, the designs of the narrow 
intermediate sections being on a white background. The lower 
third of the columns in front was yellow ; at the sides and rear, 
dark red, like that on the lower part of the high columns in the 
atrium. Thus a pleasing contrast was made between the por- 
tions of the colonnade designed to receive the sunshine, par- 
ticularly in winter, and the shadier parts ; and the higher front 
served as an intermediate member between the lofty atrium 



THE HOUSE OF THE SH.VER WEDDING 



305 



with its stately tablinum and the lower rear division of the 
house. 

The ornamentation of the architrave retains no trace of the 
decorative forms in vogue at the time when it was constructed. 
The surface, moulded in stucco, is divided into sections, cor- 
responding wdth the capitals and intercolumniations, as in the 
colonnade of the Stabian Baths (Fig. 89) ; in these sections are 
small figures of birds and animals and other suitable designs, 
the effect being heightened by the use of color. 

That the decoration of the peristyle received its present form 
before the earthquake is evident from an inscription scratched 
upon the plaster of one of the columns on the north side : 




Rhodian perist^'le 
the house of the Silver Wedding. 



Entrance to oecus 



Nerone Caesare Angus to 

Cosso Lentulo Cossi fil{io'\ co\if\s\iilibus\ 

VI 11 Idns Febr\_u'\arias 

Dies Solis, Luna XIIIIX, nnn\diiiac\ Cumis, V 711111. Poinpeis, 



' In the consulship of Nero and of Cossus Lentulus the son of 
Cossus,' that is 60 a.d. The dates given in the rest of the in- 
scription are difficult to explain, and the reading of the number 
after Luna is uncertain. The memorandum seems to indicate 
that the eighth day before the Ides of February in this year 
was the market day at Cumae, being Sunday and the sixteenth 
day after the New Moon ; and that the market day at Pompeii 
came three days later. The inscription is the earliest yet found 
in which a day of the week is named in connection with a date. 



3o6 POMPEII 

The garden plot enclosed by the peristyle was watered by 
means of two jets at the front corners, fed by pipes under the 
floor. In the middle was a slight elevation on which were found 
two crocodiles, a huge toad, and a frog of a whitish glazed 
earthenware, apparently made in Egypt. The figures are about 
sixteen inches long. 

Each of the bedrooms at the rear had an alcove for a bed, 
the ceiling being vaulted over the alcove, flat between this 
and the door ; a distinction between the two parts of the room 
was made also in the wall decoration and in the floor, of black 
and white mosaic. The frescoing on the walls of the sleeping 
rooms presents a brilliant variety of colors ; the decoration of 
the exedra is in yellow. One of the bedrooms has a small side 
door (p. 261). In the large dining room at the right (zu) the 
place for the table is indicated by an ornamental design in the 
mosaic floor ; in the oecus (4) the part of the room designed 
for the table and couches is distinguished from the rest by a 
difference in the decoration both of the floor and of the wall. 

In the oecus, the excavation was made from which the house 
received its name. The peristyle had already been cleared, and 
the volcanic debris had been, for the most part, removed from 
the front part of the oecus, leaving a layer at the bottom about 
two feet deep. The King and Queen of Italy, with the Em- 
peror and Empress of Germany and a small suite, stationed 
themselves in the corner of the peristyle opposite the opening 
of the oecus ; when all was ready a line of workmen proceeded 
to draw back the loose fragments of pumice stone, exposing 
the floor to view. Here nothing was found except the bronze 
fastenings of the large doors ; but a more fruitful outcome fol- 
lowed a similar search in a room of a small house adjoining the 
oecus on the south, in which several vessels of bronze were 
brought to light. 

The bath is unusually complete for a private house, compris- 
ing a long, narrow apodyterium (v), an open-air swimming tank 
in the garden (i), a tepidarium (?/), and a caldarium (f). Steps 
led down into the swimming tank at the corner nearest the 
door of the apodyterium, and also on the side furthest from the 
house; on the same side a jet fell into it from a marble stand- 



THE HOUSE OF THE SILVER WEDDING 



307 



ard adorned with a lion's head. If we imagine a thick growth 
of shrubs and flowers about the tank, we have the setting which 
explains the tasteful decoration of the frigidarium in the Stabian 
Baths (p. 191) and in the Baths near the Forum. 

The pavement of the apodyterium is especially effective, 
being composed of small bits of black, w^hite, dark red, green, 
and yellow marble and stone ; near the rear wall a place for a 
couch is left white. 

The caldarium and the side of the tepidarium next to it 
were provided with hollow walls ; a hollow floor extended under 
both rooms. In the left wall of the tepidarium is the bronze 
mouth of a water pipe ; perhaps in winter a cold bath was 
taken here rather than in the swdmming tank. In the caldarium 
the niche for the labrum remains ; the bath basin probably 
stood opposite the entrance, where it could be easily heated 
from the kitchen. 




-4—^—^ 



Garden with 
colonnade 



>mall atnum 



Tctrastylc atrium 
Fig. 148. — Transverse section of the house of the Silver Wedding, as it was before 63. 



Above the broad hearth of the kitchen (s), which stands 
against the wall adjoining the garden, are the vestiges of a 
painting of the two Lares ; near them a serpent is seen coiled 
around an altar, on which is a large pine cone. At the end next 
the caldarium is a depression in the floor, for convenience in 
building a fire to heat the bath rooms. In the corner is a foun- 
dation of masonry to support the vessel, of lead, in w^hich w^ater 
was kept for the bath. 

The colonnade at the left of the house (6 on the Plan; see 
Fig. 148), with its slender eight-sided columns, seems to have 
been thrown down by the earthquake of 63, and removed. In 
the place of four of the columns an open-air triclinium was made, 



3o8 POMPEII 

like that in the house of Sallust. It is well preserved, and shows 
an interesting peculiarity of construction. When the table was 
not in use, a jet of water would spring from the foundation of 
masonry supporting the round top. The water was conveyed 
by a lead pipe, and at the rear of the colonnade one may still 
see the stopcock by which the flow was regulated. 

The stairway at the left of the small atrium (/3) led to rooms 
over the front of the house. Over the rooms at the rear, a bed- 
room (7), a central room (S) taking the place of the tabhnum, 
and a corridor (e), was a dining room, the front of which was sup- 
ported by columns (p. 275), the stairway being in the corridor; 
fragments of the tufa columns are lying on the floor. At the 
back of the house was originally only the small sleeping room 
(f) with a simple decoration in the first style, and a colonnade 
(77) with Doric columns opening on the garden (k). Later the 
colonnade was turned into an apartment, and two rooms were 
built at the left, a dining room (0) and a bedroom (i). 

In the front of one of the rooms (\) is an unusually well pre- 
served niche for the images of the household gods, ornamented 
with stucco reliefs and painted in the last style. On the rear 
wall stands Hercules, with the lion's skin hanging from his left 
arm, his club on the left shoulder. In his right hand he holds 
a large bowl above a round altar ; at the left is a hog ready to 
be offered as a victim. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

THE HOUSE OF EPIDIUS RUE US 

The house of Epidius Rufus, built, like those previously de- 
scribed, in the pre-Roman time, presents a pleasing example of 
a Corinthian atrium. In one respect it resembles the oldest 
Pompeian houses, such as that of the Surgeon ; in the place of 
the peristyle is a garden extending back from a colonnade at 
the rear of the tablinum. In a period when large peristyles 
were the fashion, a Pompeian of wealth and taste, whose build- 
ing lot was ample enough to admit of an extension of his house 
toward the rear, contented himself with a single group of rooms 
arranged about one central apartment. 

The arrangement of rooms is seen at a glance (Fig. 149). The 
vestibule, like that of the principal entrance in the house of the 
Faun, had a triple door at the end toward the street (shown in 
Fig. 150), which was no doubt left open in the daytime. Enter- 
ing, one would pass into the fauces ordinarily through the small 
door at the right (p. 248), the large double doors between the 
vestibule and the fauces only being opened for the reception of 
clients or on special occasions. 

The front of each ala (7, 13) is adorned with two Ionic col- 
umns. At the corners of the entrances are pilasters, the Corin- 
thian capitals of which have a striking ornament, a female head, 
moulded in stucco, looking out from the midst of the acanthus 
leaves. The eyes and hair are painted, and in one instance the 
features of a bacchante can be recognized. 

In the right ala is an elaborate house shrine, built like a tem- 
ple with a fagade supported by columns, raised on a podium five 
feet high (Fig. 151). On the front of the podium is a dedicatory 
inscription to the Genius of the master (p. 270). 

The tablinum originally opened on the atrium in its full width, 
the entrance being set off by pilasters at the corners. It was 

309 



3IO 



POMPEII 




then higher; when the 
entrance was changed 
the height was re- 
duced to about twelve 
feet. The sixteen 
Doric cohimns about 
the imphivium, well 
preserved for the 
most part, are only a 
trifle over fourteen 
feet high. 

The contrast be- 
tween this atrium and 
the lofty halls of the 
houses of Sallust and 
the Faun was indeed 
marked. Here the 
atrium had become 
more like a court than 
a hall ; yet the im- 
phivium, paved with 
tufa, was retained, 
and we find the same 
arrangement for the 
flow of water as in 
many houses with 
Tuscan and tetrastyle 
atriums. On the edge 
of the impluvium at 
the rear is the pedes- 
tal of a fountain fig- 
ure which threw a jet 
into a basin resting 
on two rectangular 
standards ; the places 
of these, as well as 
the course of the feed 
pipe, are indicated on 



THE HOUSE OF EPIDIUS RUFUS 



311 



the plan. Behind the pedestal is a round cistern curb ; another 
jet rose in the middle of the impluvium. 

The apartment at the right of the tablinum (20) was a dining 
room. Of the smaller rooms about the atrium, three (6, 8, and 
12) were sleeping rooms for members of the family; some of 
the others were so poorly decorated as to prompt the suggestion 
that they were intended for slaves. That next the stairs (14) 
was a storeroom ; the traces of the shelving are easily distin- 
guished. Under the stairs was a low room (16), perhaps used 
for a similar purpose ; the small double room (17) was also low, 
and used as a sleeping room. 

The domestic apartments were reached by the andron (18). 
In the kitchen (21) is a broad hearth {b)\ a dim hght was fur- 




Fig. 150. — Facade of the house of Epidius Rufus, restored. 

nished by narrow windows. The little room at the entrance of 
the kitchen (a) was perhaps a storeroom ; the closet, as often, 
was in the corner of the kitchen. 

At the opposite end of the colonnade is the gardener's room 
(23). The main part of the garden (24), as indicated by the 
arrangement of the ground, was used for vegetables ; the small 
flower garden at the rear (25) was on a higher level. 

In the house originally there was no second floor. In the 
Roman period, apparently near the end of the Republic, a large 
upper room — probably a dining room — was built over the 
kitchen ; and there may have been one or two small storerooms 
at the head of the stairway which was built in one of the side 
rooms of the atrium. 



312 



POMPEII 



Traces of the first and third decorative styles are found in the 
atrium ; but the most interesting remains are those of the last 
style. The alae and several rooms were redecorated shortly 
before the destruction of the city. The dining room (20) con- 
tains a series of paintings illustrating the contest between Apollo 
and Marsyas ; they are skilfully displayed in a light architectu- 
ral framework on a white ground. On the wall at the left (at a) 
Apollo is seen with left foot advanced, striking with his right 
hand a large cithara which rests against his left shoulder. Oppo- 
site him (at ^) is Marsyas, playing the double flute ; on the inter- 
vening panels {ci, e) are the Muses, who are acting as judges in 
the contest of skill. The painting at c seems to relate to Apollo, 
but the subject has not been explained. The choice of subjects 
such as these may have been influenced by the cult of the early 




Ala 



Door of 
Andron 



Front of 
Tablinum 



Door of 
Dining room 



Ala with 
Shrine 



Fig. 151. — Transverse section of the house of Epidius Rufus, restored. 

divinity of the city ; but it probably implies a taste for poetry 
and music on the part of the proprietor. 

There were no shops in the front of this house, but in one 
respect our restoration of the facade (Fig. 150) can not be taken 
as indicating the appearance of such houses in general. Here 
the front line was set back several feet from that of the adjoin- 
ing houses on either side, and the space thus gained was given 
to a terrace or ramp about four feet high, mounted by steps at 
either end. The elevation of the front entrance above the side- 
walk and the placing of the approaches at the ends of the ramp 
gave the house an appearance of seclusion. 



CHAPTER XL 



THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET 



In the " Last Days of Pompeii" the house of the Tragic Poet 
is presented to us as the home of Glaucus. Though not large, 
it was among the most attractive in the city. It received its 
present form and decoration not many years before the eruption, 




Fig. 152. — Plan of the house of the Tragic Poet. 



1. Fauces. 

2, 2. Shops. 

3. Atrium. 

4, 4. Stairways to 

upper floor. 



5. Porter's room. 

6. 6. Sleeping rooms. 
6'. Storeroom. 

7. Ala. 



8. Tablinum. 

9. Andron. 

10. Peristyle. 

11. House shrine. 



12, 14. Sleeping rooms. 

13. Kitchen. 

15. Dining room. 

16. Posticum. 



apparently after the earthquake of 63, and well illustrates the 
arrangements of the Pompeian house of the last years. 

The house received its name at the time of excavation, in 
consequence of a curious misinterpretation of a painting — now 
in the Naples Museum — which was found in the tablinum. 
The subject is the delivery to Admetus of the oracle which 
declared that he must die unless some one should voluntarily 
meet death in his place. On one side sits Admetus, with his 
devoted queen Alcestis ; opposite them is the messenger who is 



314 



POMPEII 



reading the oracle from a roll of papyrus. The excavators 
thought that the scene represented a poet reciting his verses ; 
and since they found, in the floor of the tablinum, a mosaic 
picture in which an actor is seen making preparations for the 
stage, they concluded that the figure with the papyrus in the 
wall painting must be a tragic poet. 

The plan (Fig. 152) presents slight irregularities; yet in 
essential points the arrangement of rooms does not differ mate- 




Fig. 153. — View of the house of the Tragic Poet, looking from the middle of the atrium 

through the tablinum toward the shrine at the end of the peristyle. 
At the right, the andron. In the foreground, a cistern curb, at the rear of the impluvium. 



rially from that which we have found in the houses of the pre- 
Roman time. As our section (Fig. 154) shows, all the parts of 
the house are comparatively low ; the ceiling of the atrium and 
of the large dining room at the rear (15) were only a few 
feet higher than the colonnade of the peristyle. The entrances 
of the ala — here there is but one — and of the tablinum are 
not adorned with pilasters ; plain wooden casings were used 
instead. The second story rooms are not an afterthought but 



THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET 315 

a part of the architect's design ; the stairways (4) leading to 
them are symmetrically placed at the sides of the atrium. Thiere 
was no upper floor, however, over the fauces, the atrium, or the 
tablinum. To a modern visitor this dwelling would have seemed 
more homehke and comfortable than the monumental houses of 
the earlier time. 

The large shops (2) are both connected with the house by 
doors opening into the fauces (i). They were doubtless the 
proprietor's place of business. In one of them gold orna- 
ments were found, but we should scarcely be warranted in 
assuming from this fact that the master of the house was a 
goldsmith. 

In the floor of the fauces, immediately behind the double 
front door, is a dog, attached to a chain, outlined in black and 
white mosaic, with the inscription, cave caiiern, ' Beware of the 
dog ! ' The picture was for many years in the Naples Museum. 
The black and white mosaic is well preserved in the atrium, the 
tablinum (Fig. 153), and the dining room opening on the peri- 
style, as well as in the fauces. 

The purpose of the various rooms is in most cases easy to 
determine. The first at the left of the atrium (5) was the room 
of the porter, atricnsis. The three rooms marked 6 were sleep- 
ing rooms, as were also 12 and 14 opening on the peristyle; 
6' was a storeroom, 13 the kitchen. There was a colonnade on 
three sides of the peristyle ; against the wall at the rear stands 
the shrine of the household gods (seen in Fig. 153) in which 
was found a marble statuette of a satyr carrying fruits in the 
fold of a skin hanging in front of him. 

The decoration of the large dining room (15) is especially 
effective. In the front of the room is a broad door opening 
into the colonnade of the peristyle ; each of the three sides con- 
tains three panels, in the midst of a light but carefully finished 
architectural framework. In the central panels are large paint- 
ings : at r, a young couple looking at a nest of Cupids ; at q, 
Theseus going on board ship, leaving behind him the beautiful 
Ariadne; and at/ a composition in which Artemis is the prin- 
cipal figure. In four of the smaller panels are the Seasons, 
represented as graceful female figures hovering in the air ; the 



3i6 



POMPEII 



others present youthful warriors with helmet, shield, sword, and 
spear, all well conceived and executed with much delicacy. 

The atrium, unlike most of those at Pompeii, was rich in wall 
paintings. Six panels, more than four feet high, presented a 
series of scenes from the story of the Trojan war, as told in the 
''Iliad." These were united with the decorative framework in 
such a way as to make a harmonious and pleasing whole ; the 
main divisions of the right wall of the atrium, as well as of the 
fauces and tabhnum, are indicated in Fig. 154. 

In arranging the pictures, the decorators had little regard for 
the order of events. The subjects were the Nuptials of Zeus 
and Hera (at a on the plan); the judgment of Paris {b) — 
though this is doubtful, as the picture is now entirely obliter- 




Fig. 154. — Longitudinal section of the house of the Tragic Poet, restored. 



ated ; the delivery of Briseis to the messenger of Agamemnon 
(c) ; the departure of Chryseis {d), and seemingly Thetis bring- 
ing arms across the sea to Achilles (/). Of the painting at e 
only a fragment remained, too small to make it possible to rec- 
ognize the subject. The fragment at /, in which were seen a 
Triton, two figures riding on a sea horse, and a Cupid on a 
dolphin, is now entirely faded. Half of the painting in which 
Chryseis appears was already ruined at the time of excavation ; 
the other half was transferred to the Naples Museum, together 
with the paintings that were best preserved, the Nuptials of 
Zeus and Hera, and the sending away of Briseis. 

The two pictures last mentioned are among the best known 
of the Pompeian paintings, and have often been reproduced. In 
one (Fig. 273) we see Zeus sitting at the right, while Hypnos 
presents to him Hera, whose left wrist he gently grasps in his 



THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET 



317 



right hand as if to draw her to him. Hera seems half rekic- 
tant, and her face, which the artist, in order to enhance the 
effect, has directed toward the beholder rather than toward 
Zeus, is queenly in its majesty and power. The scene is 
located on Mt. Ida. In the background stands a pillar, on 
which are three small figures of lions ; below at the side are 
two pipes, cymbals, and a tambourine, all sacred to the potent 




Fig. 155. — The sending away of Briseis. 
Wall painting from the house of the Tragic Poet. 



divinity of Mt. Ida, Cybele. Three youths, crowned with gar- 
lands, appear in the lower right hand corner of the picture ; 
they are perhaps the DactyH, demons skilled in the working of 
metals who followed in the train of Cybele. 

A higher degree of dramatic interest is manifested in the 
other painting, which we present in outline (Fig. 155). In the 



3i8 POMPEII 

foreground at the right, Patrochis leads forward the weeping 
Briseis. In the middle Achilles, seated, looks toward Patroclus 
with an expression of anger, and with an impatient gesture of 
the right hand directs him to deliver up the beautiful captive 
to the messenger of Agamemnon, who stands at the left wait- 
ing to receive her. Behind Achilles is Phoenix, his faithful 
companion, who tries to soften his anger with comforting words. 
Further back the helmeted heads of warriors are seen, and at 
the rear the tent of Achilles. 

The scene is well conceived. Yet in both this picture and 
the one previously described, the composition seems to lack 
depth and perspective. The artist is remarkably skilful in 
portraying facial expression, and foreground details ; his limita- 
tions are apparent in the handling of groups. We have the 
feehng that the first designs were not made freely with brush or 
pencil, but that the artist was here translating into painting 
designs which he found already worked out in reliefs. The 
original paintings, of which these are copies, very likely go 
back to the fourth century B.C. 

Another painting worthy of more than passing mention was 
found on a wall of the peristyle (at o), and removed to the 
Naples Museum. The subject is the sacrifice of Iphigenia, 
who was to be offered up to Artemis that a favorable departure 
from Aulis might be granted to the Greek fleet assembled for 
the expedition against Troy (Fig. 156). 

At the right stands Calchas, deeply troubled, his sheath in 
his left hand, his unsheathed sword in his right, his finger upon 
his lips. The hapless maid with arms outstretched in supplica- 
tion is held by two men, one of whom is perhaps Ulysses. At 
the left is Agamemnon, with face averted and veiled head, over- 
come with grief. Beside him leans his sceptre, and on a pillar 
near by we see an archaic statue of Artemis with a torch in 
each hand, a dog on either side. Just as the girl is to be slain, 
Artemis appears in the sky at the right, and from the clouds 
opposite a nymph emerges bringing a deer, which the goddess 
accepts as a substitute. 

In this painting, also, though the style is entirely different 
from that of the others, we perceive the limitations of the artist 



THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET 



319 



in the treatment of the background. Nevertheless the bold- 
ness of the conception, and the skill manifested in the handling 
of several of the figures, seem to point to an original of more 
than ordinary merit. 




Fig. 156. — The sacrifice of Iphigenia. Wail painting. 

Not far from 400 B.C. the sacrifice of Iphigenia was made 
the subject of a painting by Timanthes, in which the maiden 
was represented as standing beside the altar. We are told that 
the artist painted Calchas sorrowful, Ulysses more sorrowful, 
Ajax lamenting, and Menelaus in sorrow so deep that deeper 
sorrow could not be expressed ; finding it impossible to portray 
the grief of the father, Agamemnon, Timanthes represented 
him with veiled head. 



320 POMPEII 

The veiled Agamemnon appears in our painting, and the fig- 
ure of Calchas perhaps reflects the conception of Timanthes. 
P'or the rest, it is difficult to establish a relation between the 
two pictures ; even if we did not know that Iphigenia, in the 
painting of Timanthes, stood beside an altar, we could scarcely 
believe that a great painter would have represented her thus 
awkwardly carried. Undoubtedly the Pompeian painting, or its 
original, is indebted to the masterpiece of the Greek artist ; 
but the decorative painter has adapted this to suit his pur- 
pose, omitting the figures, the facial expression of which was 
most difficult to reproduce, and at the same time attempting to 
heighten the effect by making more prominent the helplessness 
and terror of the victim. 



CHAPTER XLI . 

THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 

The house of the Vettii, excavated in the years 1 894-1 895, 
bears the same relation to the other houses built in the Roman 
period that the house of the Faun does to those of the earlier 




•^w ^^ 

Fig. 157. — Exterior of the house 



cttii, restored. 



time ; it is the most important representative of its class. It 
was situated in a quiet part of the city, and was not conspicuous 
by reason of its size ; its interest for us lies chiefly in its paint- 
ings and in the adornment of the well preserved peristyle. 

The relationship between the two owners, Aulus Vettius 
Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva (p. 508) is not known. 
They were perhaps freedmen, manumitted by the same master ; 

321 



322 



POMPEII 



Conviva, as we learn from a painted inscription, was a member cf 
the Brotherhood of Augustus, — Vetti Conviva, Aiigustal\is\ 
The exterior of the house (Fig. 157) was unpretentious. The 
main entrance was on the east side, and there was a side door 
near the southeast corner ; elsewhere the street walls were un- 
broken except by small, 
square windows, part 
of which were in low 
second story rooms. 

The vestibule (Fig. 
158, a\ as in the house 
of Epidius Rufus (p. 
248), was connected 
with the fauces {b) by 
a large double door and 
also by a small door at 
the right. The atrium 
{c) is without a tabli- 
num ; at the rear it 
opens directly on the 
peristyle. One of the 
alae {Ji) at the time of 
the eruption was used 
as a wardrobe. At the 
sides of the atrium were 
two money chests ; the 
one at the right is seen 
59- 




Fig. 158. — Plan of the house of the Vettii. 



a. Vestibule 

b. Fauces. 

c. Atrium. 
h, i. Alae. 

/. Colonnade of the peristyle. 
;«. Garden. 
«, /. Dining rooms. 
q. Room with the Cupids and 

Psyches. 



.r. . Small peristyle. 

t. Dining room. 

n. Bedroom. 

V. Side atrium. 

iv. Kitchen. 

x' . Cook's room. 

y. Corridor leading to side jj-j^ FiSf. 

rooms 0,6)andposticum. r-^ • i • 

Openmg on the peri- 
style are three large 
apartments (;/, /, q\ and two smaller rooms (<?, r). A door at 
the right leads into a small side peristyle {s, shown in Fig. 160), 
with a quiet dining room (/) and bedroom (;/). 

The domestic apartments were near the front of the house. 
At the right of the principal atrium is a small side atrium (7') 
without a separate street entrance. Grouped about it were 
rooms for the slaves and the kitchen (w) with a large hearth 
(Fig. 125). Beyond the kitchen is a room for the cook (.r'). 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



323 



At the rear of the small atrium is the niche for the household 
gods (Fig. 127). 

The corridor at the left of the principal atrium (7; led to an 
unimportant room (/3) with a door opening on a side street. In 
this corridor there was a stairway to the second story, which 
extended over this corner of the house (above t\ f, //, ;/, 0, yS, 3). 
Along the front also were low chambers, over the fauces and 
the small rooms on either side {d, k), and over the rooms adjoin- 
ing the small atrium (,r, y, 2). 

In the accompanying sections two restorations of the interior 
are given. In the first (Fig. 159) we are looking toward the 
right side of the atrium and the inner end of the peristyle ; 
the depth of the peristyle more than equals that of the atrium, 
together with the vestibule and fauces. The difference in 
height between the atrium and the peristyle, as in the house 
of the Tragic Poet, is much less than in the houses built in the 
pre-Roman period; and the corners of the alae were protected 
by simple wooden casings, altogether unlike the stately pilas- 
ters of the olden time. 

The transverse section (Fig. 160) presents the long side of the 
peristyle next to the atrium, with the side of the small peristyle 
at the north end. The extent of the house is greater measured 
across the two peristyles (along the line C-D on the plan) than 
from front to rear. Of the three entrances from the atrium 
into the peristyle, that in the middle is broader and higher 
than the other two, which are not much wider than ordinary 
doors ; the arrangement of the openings is similar to that in 
houses having a tablinum open toward the peristyle with an 
andron on one side, and on the other a room with a door cor- 
responding with the door of the andron. 

The columns of the peristyle are well preserved (Fig. 161). 
They are white, with ornate capitals moulded in stucco and 
painted with a variety of colors. Part of the entablature also 
remains ; the architrave is ornamented with an acanthus ara- 
besque in white stucco relief on a yellow background. 

The roof of the greater part of the colonnade has been 
restored, and the garden has been planted with shrubs in 
accordance with the arrangement indicated by the appearance 



324 



POMPEII 



of the ground at the time of excavation. Nowhere else in 
Pompeii will the visitor so easily gain an impression of the 
aspect presented by a peristyle in ancient times. The main 




Laige room (q) 
Garden with fountains and sculptures (m) 
Peristyle 



Fig. 159. — Longitudinal section 

part of the house was searched for objects of value after the 
eruption, but the garden was left undisturbed, and we see in 




Small peristyle (s) 



End of small End of dining room (p) Window in 
dining room Colonnade right ala(!) 

Fig. 160. — Transverse section of the house of the 



it to-day the fountain basins, statuettes, and other sculptures 
placed there by the proprietor. 

In each corner of the colonnade is a round fountain basin 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



325 



(indicated on the plan), at each side an oblong basin, all of 
marble. Jets fell into them from statuettes standing on pedes- 
tals beside the columns ; there were two figures for each side 




onnade (l) 



Ala (i) 



Impluviuin 
Atrium 



chest side atrium 



Vestibule (a) 



ot the house of the Vettii, restored. 



basin, one each for those at the corners. The two statuettes 
at the inner end of the colonnade (Fig. 162) are of bronze; 




Openings into the atrium 

Large peristyle 

Vettii, restored, showing the two peristyles. 



End of dining Door of room (o) 
room (u) Colonnade 



they represent a boy with a duck, from the bill of which the 
water spurted. The rest are of marble, and not of special 
interest. Among them are a Bacchus and two satyrs. The 



326 



POMPEII 



water pipes were so well preserved that it has been found 
possible to place them in repair, and they are now ready for 
use There were also two fountains in the garden. 

Near the middle of the garden is a round, marble table. Three 
others stand under the colonnade, one of which, at the right 
near the inner end, is particularly elegant. The three feet are 




^^^^^3 



Fig. i6i. — Base, capital, and section of the entablature from the colonnade 
of the peristyle. 



carved to represent lions' claws ; the heads above are well exe- 
cuted, and there are traces of yellow color on the manes. On 
two pillars in the garden are double busts, the subjects of which 
are taken from the bacchic cycle. One represents Bacchus and 
a bacchante (Fig. 257), the other Bacchus and Ariadne; there 
are traces of painting on the hair, beard, and eyes. 

The wall paintings of this house are the most remarkable yet 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



327 



discovered at Pompeii. Although the decoration of which they 
form a part is throughout of the fourth style, they fall into two 
groups, an earlier and a later, distinguished by differences in 
composition and handling that are easily perceived. 

The earher paintings are found in the atrium (c), the alae 
(//, i), and the large room at the end of the peristyle (q). At 
the time when they were painted the left ala (//) was connected 
with the room behind it (;/) by a door, and had a large window 




Fig. 162. — Peristyle of the house of the Vettii, looking south from the colonnade 
at the north end. 



opening on the peristyle Hke that in the other ala (seen in Fig. 
160). Afterwards both window and door were walled up and 
the ala was turned into a wardrobe. After this change had 
been made, as the remains of the masonry show, the earthquake 
of 63 threw down a part of the wall between the ala and the 
peristyle. The earlier paintings, then, must have been placed 
upon the walls before the year 63, in the reign of Claudius or 
the earher part of the reign of Nero. 

The later pictures are on the walls of the fauces (d), the large 
apartment at the left of the atrium (^), the colonnade of the 



328 POMPEII 

peristyle (/), the two dining rooms opening on the peristyle 
{n, p\ and the small peristyle (i-) with the adjoining rooms {t, 7i)\ 
to the same class belongs also the painting of the Genius with 
the Lares in the side atrium {y\ which, aside from this, con- 
tains no pictures. The remaining rooms present nothing of 
interest. 

The paintings of the first group are characterized by refine- 
ment in the choice of subjects, fertility in the composition, firm- 
ness of touch in the drawing, and exquisite finish in even the 
smallest details. The colors used are simple and harmonious, 
violent contrasts being avoided. K number of these pictures 
show the hand of a true artist, whose work has been found in 
no other house, and the system of decoration is the most ef- 
fective of its kind in Pompeii. 

The decoration of the walls painted after the earthquake is 
not unlike that found in other houses upon walls of the fourth 
style. The designs are sketchy and without painstaking in the 
handling of details ; the lines are coarse, the colors sometimes 
crude. The pictures in the panels are by different painters, 
some of whom were not without skill, yet none far above the 
average. One of the decorators had a fondness for represent- 
ing mythological death scenes, manifesting a taste little short 
of barbarous. 

The contrast between the earher and the later decoration is so 
marked that it seems impossible to explain except on the assump- 
tion of a change of owners. We may well believe that about 
the middle of the first century this was the home of a family of 
culture and standing, who secured for the decoration of it the 
best artist that could be obtained, bringing him perhaps from 
Rome or from a Greek city. But within a score of years after- 
wards the house passed into the hands of the Vettii, freedmen, 
perhaps, whose taste in matters of art was far inferior to that of 
the former occupants, and a number of rooms were redecorated. 

The excellent preservation of a large part of both the earlier 
and the later decoration gives the house the appearance of an 
art gallery. To describe fully and interpret all the paintings 
would require a small volume. The limitations of space make 
it possible to present here only the more important ; we com- 




Apollo after the slaying of the Dragon 




Agamemnon in the Shrine of Artemis 
PLATE VIII.— TWO WALL PAINTINGS IN THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII 



3^9 




Fig. 163. — Scheme of wall division 
in the large room opening on 
the peristyle. 



mence with those in the large room at the right of the peristyle, 
which are the most interesting of the entire series. 

This apartment {q) may have been used either as a dining 
room or as a sitting room. The scheme of decoration is indi- 
cated, in Fig. 163, which presents the 
division of the end wall ; the side 
walls had five large panels instead of 
three. 

The ground of the base is black. 
The stripe separating the base from 
the main part of the wall is red, ex- 
cept the small sections (4, 4), which 
have a black ground ; the vertical 
stripes between the panels are black, 
and the same color forms the back- 
ground of the border above. The 
ground of the panels is cinnabar red. 

The painting in the central panel (i) has not been preserved ; in 
those at the sides (2) are floating figures. The upper division 
of the wall (6) is filled with an architectural framework upon 
a white background, against which many figures, skilfully dis- 
posed, stand out with unusual distinctness. 

The floating figures in the side panels differ from those found 
elsewhere in the choice of subjects. Here instead of satyrs and 
bacchantes we find gods and heroes. In one panel is Poseidon 
with a female figure, perhaps Amymone ; in another, Apollo with 
Daphne. Bacchus and Ariadne also appear, and Perseus with 
Andromeda. 

The figures in the upper part of the wall at the end of the 
room belong to the bacchic cycle, — Silenus, satyrs, and bac- 
chantes. Of those at the sides, one, near the right-hand corner, 
represents a poet with a roll of papyrus against his chin, the 
open manuscript case, scriniiim, at his feet ; opposite him sits a 
maiden clothed in white, drinking in his words. A comic mask 
on the left wall seems to suggest a writer of comedy, and the 
scene reminds one of the letter of Glycera to Menander, in 
Alciphron : '' What is Athens without Menander, what Menander 
without Glycera .'* Without me, who make ready your masks, who 



330 



POMPEII 



lay out your costume, and then stand behind the scenes pressing 
my finger tips into the palms of my hands till the applause breaks 
forth. Then all a-trembhng I breathe again, and enfold you, 
godlike poet, in my arms." 

The figures in which we are specially interested, however, are 
not those in the upper or middle division of the wall, but those 
in the black stripes (3), nine and ten inches wide, under the 
panels, in the narrow sections (4) and in the corresponding 
sections of the base. 

In each of the sections at the bottom is a standing figure. In 
those of the end wall (5) are a satyr and a bacchante; in the 
two nearest the middle of each side wall are Amazons, in the 
rest female figures with implements of sacrifice. The Amazons, 




Fig. 164. — Psyches gathering flowers. 
Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 



armed with battle-axe and shield, are full of life ; they are dis- 
tinguished by the colors of their mantles and their Phrygian caps. 

In the narrow sections on the end walls (4), and all but four 
of the others, were Psyches gathering flowers. Only a part of 
the scenes are preserved ; in each are three figures, grouped 
with a pleasing variety and rendered with singular delicacy of 
touch. In one, the Psyches are sprightly children (Fig. 164); 
in another, young girls ; and in a third we see a lady sitting at 
ease and plucking the flowers close at hand, while two maids 
gather the blossoms beyond her reach. 

The two narrow sections nearest the middle panel of each 
side wall contained mythological scenes, of which three are pre- 
served. The subjects are taken from the cycle of myths relating 
to Apollo and Artemis. In one of the pictures both the divini- 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 331 

ties appear. Apollo has just slain the Python, which lies coiled 
about the Omphalos, the sacred symbol of the god as the giver 
of oracles at Delphi. His bow and quiver are hanging upon a 
column in the background, and he moves forward with vigorous 
step singing the Paean with an accompaniment upon the cithara. 
At the right, Artemis, with a quiver and long hunting spear, 
leans upon a pillar looking at her brother. Nearer the Omphalos 
are a priest and a female attendant, with a bull intended for 
sacrifice ; the relation of these to the rest of the scene is not 
clear (Plate VIII.). 

The companion picture takes us to a sanctuary dedicated to 
Artemis. At the left a gilt bronze image of the goddess, in 
hunting costume, stands upon a pillar, to the side of which a 
bow, quiver, and boar's head are fastened. On one side of the 
round altar in the middle is a white hind, sacred to the goddess ; 
on the other, moving toward it with a sword in the uplifted right 
hand, is a kingly figure, the face turned with a wild and threat- 
ening look toward a frightened attendant ; another attendant, 
back of the hind, seems not yet to have noticed the sacrilegious 
intruder. The composition is full of dramatic power; the sub- 
ject can be none other than the slaying of the hind of Artemis 
by the impious Agamemnon (Plate VIII.). 

The third of these small paintings presents a scene not infre- 
quently met with on Pompeian walls, Orestes and Pylades at 
Tauris in the presence of King Thoas, and of Iphigenia, who is 
now a priestess of Artemis. The conception is akin to that of 
the painting in the house of the Citharist (Fig. 182), but the 
picture is partially obliterated. 

The long stripe below the panels is preserved in more than 
half its length, on the end wall (3), on that at the right, and on 
the short sections of the front wall ; there is also a fragment on 
the left side. It contains a series of charming pictures repre- 
senting Cupids and Psyches. Some of the little creatures are 
engaged in sports, others are celebrating a festival, while others 
still are busying themselves with the manifold work of everyday 
life. The execution is less careful than in the small mythological 
pictures ; yet the figures are so full of life, their movements are 
so purposeful, and their bearing so suggestive that we seem to 



332 



POMPEII 



catch the expression of the tiny faces. The Cupids and Psyches, 
whether playing the part of children or of men and women in 
elegant attire, whether garland makers or vinedressers or smiths, 
are always Cupids and Psyches still ; we instinctively recognize 
them as such, not by reason of outward attributes so much as 
by their bearing. Prosaic daily toil has nowhere been more 
happily idealized. 

The Cupids at the left of the entrance are playing with a 
duck. One holds the duck under his arm ready to let it go ; 
the other stretches out his hands to catch it as it tries to escape. 
The group on the other side are throwing at a wooden mark. 




Fig. 165. — Cupids making 
Wall painting in the 

One is setting up the target. Two are making ready to throw, 
one of them being mounted on the back of a companion; the 
successful contestant in such games was called " the king," the 
loser, **the ass," because he had to carry the others upon his 
back. A fifth stands ruefully beside the target, awaiting his 
turn to carry the victor. 

Among the most attractive groups are those of the flower 
dealers, at the end of the right wall near the entrance. First 
we see the gardener leading to market a goat laden with roses; 
his little son trudges along behind the animal, carrying a basket 
of roses suspended from a stick on the left shoulder. Next is 
the dealer, who stands behind a broad marble table covered 
with garlands ; he is handing two to a youth who already has 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII 



333 



several, while a Psyche near by is placing the garlands in a 
basket. Beyond these, workmen are making garlands, which 
hang in profusion from a wooden frame. At the extreme left 
is a lady asking the price. One of the workmen holds up 
two fingers, signifying two asses. The price of a wreath is 
given in a graffito as three asses (p. 497). 

In the following scene Cupids appear as makers and sellers 
of oil (Fig. 165). At the right is the oil press. It stands upon 
a square stone, the upper surface of which contains a semicir- 
cular incision to catch the oil and carry it to a round vessel stand- 
ing in front. The two sides, each with a broad vertical opening, 




and selling oil. 
house of the Vettii. 



are securely fastened by a crosspiece at the top. The ends of 
four horizontal boards are fitted to the openings, in which they 
move up and down. The olives are 
placed under the lowest board ; in the 
spaces between the others, and be- 
tween the upper board and the cross- 
piece, thick wooden wedges are driven. 
As the workmen drive in the wedges 
with heavy mallets, the pressure upon 
the olives is increased, and the oil is 
forced out. The arrangement may 
be more plainly seen in Fig. 166, from 
a wall painting at Herculaneum, in which a similar press appears. 




Fig. 166. — Oil press. From a wall 
painting found at Herculaneum. 



334 



POMPEII 



At the left of the press is a large kettle resting on a tripod. 
The oil is being stirred as it is heated ; a similar kettle appears 
in the scene in a shop presented in the other part of the picture. 
Further on are two figures beside a deep vessel, but the process 
represented is not clear. 

The rest of the picture relates to the selling of oil. In the 
background is a cupboard, with a statuette — possibly an Aphro- 
dite — on the upper shelf. In front is an open chest resting 
on four legs. Both the cupboard and the box contain bottles 
and jars of various shapes and sizes for holding oil; a Cupid 




Fig. 167. — Cupids 
Wall painting in the 



has just taken one up. On the top of the chest is a roll of 
papyrus with a pair of scales ; oil was sold by weight. A 
memorandum on the wall of an adjoining house reads : XIII. 
K. Fe. oli. p. DCCCXXXX, — ' January 20, 840 pounds of oil.' 

The central figure of the group at the left is the lady who has 
come to make a purchase. A cushioned seat has been placed 
for her, with a footstool ; the maid stands motionless behind, a 
large fan resting on the right shoulder. The proprietor holds 
in his right hand a spoon containing a sample which he has just 
taken from the jar under his arm ; the lady seems to be testing 
the quality on the back of her wrist. The article sold is doubt- 
less the fine perfumed oil, not the common variety. 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



335 



Hardly less animated are the scenes in which Cupids take 
the place of goldsmiths (Fig. 167). At the right is the furnace, 
adorned with the head of Hephaestus, the patron divinity of 
workers in metals. In front is a Cupid with a blowpipe and 
pincers. Behind it another is working with a graver's tool upon 
a large gold vessel. The pose, suggesting at the same time 
exertion and perfect steadiness, is rendered with remarkable 
skill. 

Next is a figure at a small anvil; then the counter for the sale 
of jewellery, which is displayed in three open drawers. Be- 



M ^' ■ 






|ii». . jI^ 


j*j/ '^ /,; ^^PJK^^''" 


f^ ■ 


,^«^ 


^^fil 






" P 


iP^f' 


^'^^'HU^^'- 


* ■ " r 


"' rf-.; ^ V 


>4 




.K 



as goldsmiths, 
house of the Vettii. 



hind the case containing the drawers a large and a smaller pair 
of scales are seen. 

The first two figures in the other half of the picture represent 
a lady purchaser, seated, and the proprietor, who weighs out 
an object with a small pair of scales. The left hands of both 
point to the balance ; they are deeply interested in the weigh- 
ing. Lastly, we see two figures at an anvil. Nothing could be 
more natural than the pose of the one at the left, holding the 
metal upon the anvil for his companion to strike, yet drawing 
back as far as possible in order to avoid the sparks. 

The processes of the fullery also are illustrated, — treading 
the clothes in vats, carding, inspection of the cloth to see if the 



336 POMPEII 

work is properly done, and folding the finished garments for 
delivery to the owners. 

Three of the pictures — two on the end wall and one on the 
left side — relate to wine. 

The first is a vintage scene (Fig. i68), of which only a part 
is distinct. At the left is a Cupid gathering grapes, from vines 
trained to run from tree to tree. The press is worked on a 
different principle from the one shown in Fig. 165. Here two 
Cupids are turning a windlass by means of long levers. The 
windlass is connected by a pulley with a press beam above; as 
the end of this is gradually lowered, the pressure upon the 
grapes underneath is increased. 

The triumph of Bacchus is presented in another picture, 




Fig. 168. — \'intage scene : Cupids gathering and pressing grapes. 
Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 

which is fortunately in a better state of preservation. At the 
head of the procession is a bacchante, riding on a panther. 
Bacchus sits in a four-wheeled chariot drawn by goats; the 
coachman is a satyr. Behind the triumphal car is Pan, danc- 
ing and playing the double flute ; last comes a vine-crowned 
Cupid, dancing, with a large mixing bowl upon his shoulder. 
The skill shown in the pose of the dancing figures is especially 
noteworthy ; they stand lightly erect, seeming not to feel their 
weight or the exertion of rapid movement. 

In the last of this series, upon the left wall, Cupids appear 
as wine dealers; the part of the picture that has been preserved 
is shown in Fig. 169. The rustic bearing of the seller, at the 
left, is in pleasing contrast with the free and graceful carriage 
of the well-bred buyer, to whom he is handing a sample of the 
wine in a cup. At the right two servants are drawing another 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



337 



sample from an amphora; one tips the amphora so cautiously 
that the other, who is holding the bowl, presses the neck gently 
with his left hand in order to make the slender stream flow 
faster. 

Rapidity of movement reaches a climax in the middle picture 
of the right wall, which represents the games of the Circus. 
The scene is laid in the country ; each goal is marked by three 
trees. Antelopes take the place of horses, and the groups are 
conceived with wonderful realism. The tiny, fluttering gar- 
ments of the drivers display the colors of the four parties, — 
green, red, white, and blue. 



mv 


H 






H 




Hlk^^l 


Kl 


mjI 




^IHi^B^%^^BI 




W'i 


^y^ 1.4 


m 


^9 ^'^^S 


W^ 


< '-'^^^ii^i^M 


^ 


HlHn ' 


liiliByB 


Be 




m 


Ht^ 




^^■■■Ib 




mmmm 


^^HI^^HH 





Fig. 169. — Cupids as dealers in wine. 
Wall painting in the house of the ^'ettii. 



Two of the pictures on the end wall are so damaged that it is 
not easy to make out the details. One of them, like that just 
described, presents a purely Roman subject — the festival of 
Vesta (Fig. 170). Cupids and Psyches are recHning at ease 
about a serving table in the shape of a deep platter with two 
handles, on which drinking vessels are seen ; in the background 
are two asses, sacred to Vesta (p. 98). Some, at least, of the 
Cupid pictures could not have been taken from Greek origi- 
nals. 

In the atrium also there was a black stripe containing Cupids 
similar to those already described, but the figures are not so well 
preserved. The most interesting scene represents a sacrifice to 



S38 POMPEII 

Fortuna. Cupids appear also riding and driving. Some are 
mounted on goats and engaged in a contest. One stands on a 
crab, guiding the ungainly creature with reins and plying the 
whip ; another is similarly mounted on a lobster. A few are in 
chariots, the chariot in one case being drawn by two dolphins. 

In each division of the wall of the atrium near the bottom is 
the half-length figure of a child, painted on a dark red ground. 
The children are busied with vessels of all kinds, apparently 
intended for sacrifice. The seriousness of their task, the impor- 
tance which they attach to their helpfulness, is finely expressed 
in the faces, which are individualized in the manner of a true 
artist. 

We may dismiss the later paintings of the house with few 
words. In the fauces (d) are small monochrome panels contain- 




170. — Cupids celebrating the festival of \'esta. 
Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 

ing a pair of deer, a cock fight, vases, and a wallet with a herald's 
staff, attributes of Mercury, who perhaps had a place among 
the Penates of the house. 

In the room at the left of the atrium (e) is a painting of 
Cyparissus, the youth beloved of Apollo, with his wounded deer 
on the ground near him ; in another part of the room is the 
wresthng match between Pan and Eros. Among the figures 
seen in the architectural framework of the upper division of the 
wall is Zeus, sitting on his throne, represented as a youth, un- 
bearded ; Leda with the swan also appears, and Danae holding 
out her robe to catch the golden rain. 

The direction of the owner's tastes is perhaps indicated by a 
painting in the peristyle, at the middle of the wall under the 
colonnade at the left. It contains a portrait, probably of an 
author ; near by is a manuscript case with rolls of papyrus. 



THE HOUSE OF THE VETTH 



339 



The paintings in the two dining rooms opening on the peri- 
style, // and /, are in a better state of preservation than those of 
any other part of the house. In the first room, n, the simple 
and restful decoration surrounding the large pictures is in strik- 
ing contrast with the pictures themselves, one of which is placed 
at the middle of each of the three walls. Here we see the 
infant Hercules strangling the serpents, there Pentheus and the 
Maenads about to tear him in pieces; the subject of the third 
painting is the punishment of Dirce, the treatment being not 
unlike that of the sculptured Farnese group in the Naples 
Museum. 

The decorative effect of the other room, /, is more harmonious. 
The divisions of the wall space, the relation of the three prin- 
cipal paintings to the decorative design, and the distribution of 
ornament are indicated in our illustration (Plate IX); but no 
reproduction can do justice to the richness of the coloring. 

The painting in the middle panel at the right brings before 
us Bacchus with his train as they come upon the sleeping 
Ariadne. On the left wall opposite is Daedalus, pointing out 
the wooden cow that he has made to Pasiphae, who hands to 
him a golden arm band. The subject of the third picture is 
here met with for the first time at Pomj^eii — the punishment 
of Ixion. 

The tragedy of the scene (Fig. 171) is plainly suggested, but 
not forced upon the beholder ; we see, at the left, only half of 
the ever revolving wheel to which the wretched victim is bound. 
The other figures are more prominent and, with one exception, 
convey no suggestion of pain or sympathy in either pose or 
expression of face. Nearest the wheel is Hephaestus, who has 
just fastened Ixion upon it ; his pincers, hammer, and anvil are 
lying upon the ground in the corner. In front of him is Hermes, 
who, in obedience to the command of Zeus, brought the offender 
to the place of punishment. 

A sad-faced female figure with veiled head sits in the fore- 
ground — a personification of the spirit of one who has died, a 
shade introduced to indicate that the place of punishment is the 
Underworld. The left hand is involuntarily raised with the 
shock that the thought of the victim's suffering brings ; the face 



340 



POMPEII 



has been thought by some to resemble that often given to the 
Madonna. 

The two figures at the right of the picture are of the upper 
world, not directly connected with the main action, yet well con- 




Fig. 171, — The punishment of Ixion. 
Wall painting in the house of the Vettii. 



ceived and skilfully introduced. Nearer the foreground Hera 
sits enthroned, her sceptre in her left hand ; behind her stands 
Iris, faithful messenger, who points out to her the well deserved 
fate of him who dared to offer an affront to the queen of heaven. 



CHAPTER XLII 



THREE HOUSES OF UNUSUAL PLAN 



In the houses described in the preceding chapters the distri- 
bution of the rooms is characterized by a certain regularity, 
which makes it possible to indicate the arrangements by refer- 
ence to an ideal or normal plan. A 
wide departure, however, is occasion- 
ally noted ; and by way of illustration 
three houses of unusual plan will be 
briefly presented here, first a house 
without an atrium, then one having 
an atrium but no compluvium, and, 
lastly, a large establishment built on 
terraces at different levels. 

I. The House of Acceptus and 

EUHODIA 

Sometimes a few rooms of a large 
house were cut off from the atrium 
and used as a separate dwelHng; the 
original plan in such cases is easily 
determined. The number of houses 
built without an atrium in the begin- 
ning is exceedingly small. Among 

the pleasantest was the modest dwelling of Acceptus and Eu- 
hodia, on the south side of the double Insula in the eighth 
Region (VIII. v.-vi. 39); the names are taken from a couple 
of election notices painted on the front, in which they appear 
together. 

From the street one passed directly under a colonnade (Fig. 
172, a) in two stories, facing a small garden {b), from which it 

341 










A 




° ' 


2 J * i- 6 7 


s-m"" 


Fig. 172.- 


— The house 


' ^ 1 
of Acceptus 






and Euhodia. 


a. 


Colonnn 


de. d. 


Bedroom. 


h. 


Garden 


/■ 


Dining room. 


c. 


Kitchen 


g- 


Garden. 




/. Bedroom with place 


s for two beds. 



342 



POMPEII 



r 

r 



was separated by a low wall. At one end of the garden was an 
open-air triclinium (^), which still remains. The rest of the 
plot, used as a flower garden, was profusely ornamented ; five 

heads of herms, a 
frog and other objects 
of marble were found 
in it, besides a couple 
of alabaster basins 
and five statuettes of 
Egyptian divinities 
made of glazed pot- 
tery. In the corner 
of the colonnade, be- 
tween the garden and 




Fig. 173. — Longitudinal section of the house of Acceptus 
and Euhodia, restored. 



the entrance, is a 
small hearth, conven- 
iently placed for serv- 
ing the open-air triclinium ; in the opposite corner at the left 
the excavators found the remains of a cupboard, together with 
vessels of bronze, glass, and clay. At the further end of the 
colonnade one passed into another small garden (g-). 

A bedroom (^/) opened on the colonnade near the entrance. 
A corridor (r) led to the kitchen (c) behind it. Beyond the 
corridor is the dining room (/). Another sleeping room (?) with 
places for two beds is entered through a kind of anteroom (//) at 
the rear of the house. 

The rooms of the second story corresponded closely with those 
underneath, and were entered from the second story of the 
colonnade ; the stairs, partly of wood, started in the kitchen. 
The appearance of the house as one looked from the garden at 
the right toward the colonnade may be inferred from our restora- 
tion, which gives a longitudinal section (Fig. 173); the letters 
under the section refer to the rooms as they are indicated in the 
plan. 

The house was decorated in the fourth style. On the south 
wall of the kitchen there is a painting of Fortuna, with the usual 
attributes, a cornucopia and a rudder resting on a ball. The 
Genius and the Lares nowhere appear, and as a lotus blossom is 



THREE HOUSES OF UNUSUAL PLAN 



343 



painted on the forehead of the goddess, who is thus conceived 
of as a form of Isis, we may suppose that Acceptus and his wife 
were adherents of the Egyptian cult. Besides the statuettes of 
Egyptian divinities there was found in the garden the foot of a 
marble table with a Greek inscription '' of Serapion," an Egyptian 
name. Acceptus and Euhodia may have come from Alexandria 
and thence have introduced into Pompeii this type of house, so 
unlike the native form. The Latin name of Acceptus does not 
stand in the way of this explanation, for he was probably a 
freedman, who in Egypt may have had a Roman master. 



IL A House without a Compluvium 

The accompanying plan (Fig. 174) shows the arrangement of 
a small house on the north side of Nola Street in the fifth 
Region (V. v. 2). The problem of lighting the atrium (e), the 
roof of which sloped toward the back, was met in a simple way. 




Shop. 



A 3 ^ S /ffm. 

Fig. 174. — Plan of a house without a compluvium (V. v. 2) . 
b. Fauces. e. Atrium. /. Light court. k. Dining room. 



I. Hearth. 



2. Cistern curb. 



At the rear a light court (/) was constructed, which furnished 
light and air by means of broad windows, not only to the atrium, 
but also to the adjoining room g and indirectly to the dining 
room k^ which had a window opening on g. 

This arrangement, however, is in part the result of later 
changes. Originall)^ the room marked g belonged to the court, 
f, and the house consisted of two parts, separated by a narrow 
area. The kitchen was then in the low room {i\ above which 



344 



POMPEII 




was a correspondingly low chamber, the height of the two rooms 
being only equal to that of the dining room {k). In later times, 

however, the hearth was moved to the 
corner of the atrium (i), the smoke be- 
ing let out through a small window in 
the wall. A stairway, partly of wood, 
led to the upper rooms at the front of 
the house. Along the street ran a stone 
bench, protected by a roof projecting 
over it. 

The water from the roofs fell into the 
light court f, and was collected in a cis- 
tern. We give a transverse section 
across / and g (Fig. 175), showing the 
arrangement of the roofs, doors, and 
window at the rear. 

On the wall of g is scratched the in- 
scription, Fiires foras, frugi intro, — ' Let thieves keep out, let 
honest folk come in ! ' 



Fig. 175. — Transverse section 
of the house without a com- 
pluvium. 

At the left, light court (/) , with 
stairs {h) leading to an up- 
per room over i. At the 
right, room g, with the win- 
dow opening into the din- 
ing room k. 



III. The House of the Emperor Joseph II 

A good example of a house extended over terraces at different 
levels may be seen on the edge of the hill west of the Forum 
Triangulare (VIII. ii. 39), that of the Emperor Joseph II, casa 
deir Imperatore Giuseppe II. The name was given in com- 
memoration of a visit of this emperor to Pompeii, in 1769, when 
a special excavation in his honor was made in a part of the house. 

The uppermost of the three terraces on which the house is 
built (Fig. 176, i) is at the level of the street (Vico della Regina, 
Plan VI), the lowest (3) in part occupies the place of the old 
city wall ; the middle terrace is adjusted to the intervening slope. 
The arrangement of the stairways between the terraces and the 
distribution of the rooms may be more easily understood from 
an inspection of the plan in connection with the key below than 
from description. 

There was a second story over a part of the rooms on the 
upper terrace, as indicated by the stairways at e and 7t and in 



THREE HOUSES OF UNUSUAL PLAN 



345 



the corner of ;/, but the extent of it is not easy to determine. 
The traces of the upper rooms of the middle terrace, however, 
are clearly seen, and their arrangement is indicated on the plan 
(4) ; the height of // and k, which were in one story, was equal 
to that of the smaller rooms with the chambers above. 

The front of the house, the large Tuscan atrium with the 
adjoining rooms, dates from the Tufa Period ; the atrium was 




Fig. 176. 



2 3 

Plan of the house of Ihe Emperor Joseph if. 



Upper terrace at the level of the street. 

a. Fauces. 

b. Atrium. 

c. House chapel. 

g, h. Alae, with a wardrobe (;") at the rear 

oih. 
u. Room with two stairways, leading up to 

second floor and down to middle terrace. 
■w. Middle room opening on a colonnade (j) 

which faces the rear of the terrace (2). 
X, V. Dining rooms, opening on the colonnade. 
Middle terrace. 

a. Corridor, entered from stairway in ii above. 
(8. Corridor. 7, 5. Low vaulted rooms. 

e. Stairway leading to lower terrace. 
T). Middle room. 



i9^. Dining room, with a window opening on 

the terrace at the rear. 
K. Small dining room, 
t. A, ^. Sleeping rooms. 
Lower terrace. 
I. Corridor leading down from the foot of the 

stairway in e. 
3, 4. Bakery. 
6-8. Bath. (6. Tepidarium. 7. Caldarium. 

8. Frigidarium.) 
Upper rooms of the middle terrace. 

L Excavated room used as a cellar, 
n, IIL Rooms over i, A. 

VL Room over ^, connected with V (over y, 
6) by a gallery over the stairway e, and 
with rj by a ladder or stairway. 



originally one of the most richly decorated at Pompeii. The 
rooms back of the atrium opening toward the rear, and those 
of the middle and lower terraces', are a later addition, built after 



346 POMPEII 

the city wall at this point had been removed, perhaps not long 
before the end of the Republic ; traces of the second style of 
decoration are found in one of the lowest rooms, the tepidarium 
of the bath. Remains of the first style are found in the fauces, 
but the greater part of the house is decorated in the last style. 

One of the small rooms {c) opening on the atrium, originally 
a bedroom, was in later times turned into a house chapel. In 
the right wall is a small niche, on the back of which a Genius 
of the ordinary type is painted. Near him and also offering a 
libation is a female figure with the attributes of Juno, a diadem, 
and a sceptre. The two figures represent the Genii of the mas- 




mi 



Fig. 177. — Corner of bake room in 1 ' story of the house of the Emperor 

Joseph II, at the time ot excavation. 

ter and mistress of the house (p. 270). Under the niche, and at 
the sides are iron nails, driven into the plaster to hold wreaths 
and garlands. 

On either side of the broad middle room {w) is a dining room 
{v, x), connected with it by two large windows. All three rooms 
open upon the colonnade (7), and this again opens out upon a 
terrace {2). 

The principal room of the middle story (2. ?;, under 3) takes the 
place of an atrium ; it is lighted by a door and two windows 
opening upon a terrace {^l). Connected with it are two dining 
rooms (??, k), considerably higher than the other apartments of 
this story, and three sleeping rooms (t, X, f). A dark corridor 



THREE HOUSES OF UNUSUAL PLAN 347 

( /3) separated these rooms from the soHd earth at the rear, and 
furnished access, by means of ladders, to two low upper rooms 
(over L and X ; see 4. 11, iii), perhaps used as storerooms. 
From ^ one could also reach, in the same w^ay, an oblong 
chamber excavated in the earth (i), designed originally as a 
cistern, but used as a cellar at the time of the eruption. Of the 
remaining upper rooms one (iv) was built on the soHd ground 
at the side of the stairway leading from the upper floor (a); 
the other two (v, over 7, S and vi, over f ) were connected by 
a gallery or bridge over the stairway leading to the lower floor 
(e); this gallery could be reached also by a ladder or wooden 
stairway in the large middle room (77). The outermost room 
(vi) was perhaps a washroom ; there is a rectangular basin in 
one corner. 

The lower floor was given up to a bath {frigidarunn, 8 ; tepi- 
dariitm, 6; caldariinn, 7) and to a bakery (3, 4). 

In the vaulted ceiling of the frigidarium (8) and one of the 
rooms of the bakery (3) is a round hole for ventilation, opening 
upon the terrace above through a kind of chimney. The hol- 
low walls of the caldarium (7) are carried to the crown of the 
vault, at the middle of which is a similar opening for the vent. 
The places of the three openings in the floor of the terrace are 
seen in the plan (2, ft). 

At one end of the larger room of the bakery (3) is the oven; 
at the other two rectangular basins of masonry. In the corner 
near the basins was found the skeleton of a man who at the 
time of the eruption had taken refuge in this room and prob- 
ably died of hunger. The appearance of the room at the time of 
excavation is shown in a sketch published by Mazois (Fig. 177). 

The door near the corner, seen in the illustration, led out- 
side the city. The proprietor of the house perhaps had a special 
permit enabling him to leave or enter the city at any time with- 
out surveillance ; none of the other houses along the edge of 
the city have a private entrance of this kind. 



CHAPTER XLIII 

OTHER NOTEWORTHY HOUSES 

The houses accorded a detailed description in the previous 
chapters are few in comparison with the number of those 
worthy of special study. He alone who has wandered day 
after day among the ruins, returning again and again to explore 
the parts of the city which are rarely seen by the hasty visitor, 
can realize what a wealth of interesting material lies behind the 
barren walls lining the streets on either side. 

The location of the houses mentioned incidentally is given in 
Plan VI, at the end of the volume. Such are, the house of 
CaeciHus Jucundus, on Stabian Street (V. i. 26), the tablinum of 
which contains one of the most beautiful specimens of wall 
decoration yet discovered, in the third style ; the house of 
Lucretius, on the same street (IX. iii. 5), with a little garden 
behind the tablinum adorned with quaint sculptures ; the house 
of the Hunt on Nola Street (VII. iv. 48), so named from the 
large hunting scene on the wall at the rear of the garden ; and 
further dow^n on Nola Street (IX. vii. 6) the extensive house 
with three atriums and a large peristyle, excavated in 1879, 
eighteen centuries after the destruction of the city, and hence 
called the house of the Centenary, casa del Centenario. 

In the same block with the house of the Hunt, opposite that 
of the Faun, is the house of the Sculptured Capitals, casa dei 
Capitelli Figurati (VII. iv. 57). It received its name from the 
figures carved in the tufa capitals of the pilasters at the entrance, 
one of which is shown in Fig. 178; the stucco with which the 
surface was coated has now fallen off. Such figures are not 
infrequently met with in pilaster capitals of the Tufa Period, 
the subjects being always taken, as here, from the bacchic cycle; 
the satyr at the left is well rendered. The plan of the house is 

348. 



OTHER NOTEWORTHY HOUSES 



349 




Fig. 178. — Capital of pilaster at the entrance 
of the house of the Sculptured Capitals. 



simple, like that of other houses of moderate size dating from 
the pre-Roman time. 

Near the west end of Nola Street is the house of Pansa, 
which occupies the whole of the sixth Insula of Region VL 
Although of approximately the 
same size as the house of the 
Faun, and built in the same 
period, it contained fewer large 
rooms ; its proportions were 
less impressive, its finish less 
elegant. The walls present 
many evidences of repairs and 
alterations, but of the wall dec- 
oration nothing remains. 

The plan (Fig. 179) is of in- 
terest on account of its regu- 
larity. It well illustrates the extent to which, at Pompeii, rooms 
not required for household purposes were utilized as shops and 
small separate dwellings, which were rented to tenants, and 
doubtless formed an important source of income. 

The vestibule and fauces have been mentioned previously 
(p; 249). The living rooms are grouped about a single atrium 
(2) and a large peristyle (9). A colonnade at the rear of the 
house faces the garden, which, as indicated by the appearance 
of the ground at the time of excavation, was used for vegetables. 
Opening on the colonnade is the gardener's room (a). 

In the front were shops, one of which (35) was connected 
with the house and served as the proprietor's place of business; 
another (33) was used as a salesroom for the bakery, which 
occupied the rooms numbered 28-34. On the same side of 
the house were three small two-story dwellings, one of which 
(22-23) contained windows opening into an adjoining room (12) 
of the house and into the peristyle ; it was doubtless occupied 
by some one connected with the household. The dwellings on 
the other street (A, B, C) were larger. Fiorelli thought that 
this Insula belonged to Alleius Nigidius Mains (p. 489); the 
name of Pansa was given to it from an election notice painted 
on the front. 



350 



POMPEII 



There is a remarkable group of houses near the north end of 
Mercury Street. The first in importance is the house of Castor 
and Pollux (VI. ix. 6), which is so named from the figures of 
the Dioscuri, holding their horses by the bridle, painted on the 
walls of the principal fauces. Between the two atriums, one of 
which is of the Corinthian type, lies a large peristyle ; and behind 
the Corinthian atrium is a garden with a colonnade in front. 
The decoration of the house is especially effective ; that of the 
larger tablinum was by one of the best artists who worked at 
Pompeii. The paintings in the two central panels of this room 




1. Fauces. 

2. Atrium. 

4. 4. Alae. 

5. Tablinum. 

6. Andron. 
9. Peristyle. 

10. Passage leading to posticum. 

13. Dining room. 



Fig. 179. — Plan of the house of Pansa. 

15. Oecus. 24-25, 26-27. Two small sepa- 

19. Kitchen. rate dwellings. 

20. Room for a wagon. 28-34. Bakery. (29. Mill room. 

21. Colonnade opening on the 30. Oven.) 
garden. 35, 37-40- Shops. 

22-23. Small dwelling with second 41. Shop with back rooms, 

story, connected with the 42. Room with bake oven, 

house. A, B, C. Separate dwellings. 



are often mentioned; on the right wall, the recognition of 
Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes ; on the left, the 
quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. The representa- 
tion of Venus Pompeiana shown in Fig. 4 is from the peristyle. 
Beyond the house of Castor and Pollux is that of the Centaur 
(VI. ix. 3), which received its name from a painting in which 
Hercules, Deianira, and Nessus appear ; the end of a bedroom 



OTHER NOTEWORTHY HOUSES 351 

in this house is shown in Fig. 122. The rest of the insula 
belongs to the large house of Meleager, named from a picture 
representing Meleager and Atalanta. The walls contained nu- 
merous mythological pictures, part of which were transferred to 
the Naples Museum ; those left on the walls have suffered from 
exposure to the weather. 

The house of Apollo also (VI. vii. 23), on the opposite side 
of the street, is noteworthy on account of its decoration, in the 
last style ; the god appears in a series of paintings. Two 
houses in the next insula, on the south, have in their gardens 
fountain niches veneered with bright mosaics, the casa della 
Fontana Grande (VI. viii. 22) and the casa della Fontana 
Piccola (VI. viii. 23). 

At the middle of the tenth Insula, in the same Region, is the 
house of the Anchor (VI. x. 7), so called from an anchor out- 
lined in the black and 
white mosaic of the 
fauces. The peristyle 
here presents an in- 
teresting peculiarity 
of construction. The 
level of the street at 
the rear of the house 
was below that of Mer- 
cury Street. Instead 
of filling up the lot so 
as to raise the e^arden ^. „ ^^ . , . ^ , • , r , 

" rig. 180. — bection snowing a part oi the peristyle oi the 

to the height of the house of the Anchor, restored. 

front part, the builder 

constructed a kind of basement under the colonnade of the peri- 
style, the floor of which was thus adjusted to the level of the 
floors in the front rooms ; the garden and the floor of the base- 
ment were on the same level as the street at the rear. The 
colonnade was higher on the north than on the other three 
sides (Fig. 180). The effect of the whole was far from un- 
pleasing. Whether the projections seen in the niches below, at 
the level of the garden, are pedestals or small altars cannot be 
determined. The niches at the front end were made larger, and 



t I I i; 




352 



POMPEII 



were three in number. In the middle niche was a diminutive 
temple ; the other two had the form of an apse, and contained 
fountain figures. 

Houses were sometimes enlarged at the expense of neigh- 
boring dwellings, which, in some cases, were destroyed to th^ 




Fig. i8i. — Plan of the house of the Citharist. 
6. West atrium with connecting rooms, entered 42. Kitchen. 



from Stabian Street. 
17, 32. Peristyles belonging with the west atriur 
40, 41. Bath — tepidarium and caldarium. 



47. North atrium, entered from the continuation 

of Abbondanza Street. 
56. Peristyle belonging with the north atrium. 



foundations, in others remodelled or incorporated with slight 
change. An example is the house of the Citharist, which fills 
the greater part of the fourth Insula in Region I, on the east 
side of Stabian Street. A bronze statue of Apollo playing the 
cithara, found in the middle peristyle (Fig. i8i, 17), gave its 



OTHER NOTEWORTHY HOUSES 



353 



name to the house. It is apparently a faithful copy of a Greek 
masterpiece at Sparta, and is now in the Naples Museum. The 
house is sometimes referred to as that of Popidius Secundus. 

There are two atriums (6, 47) and three peristyles (17, 32, 56). 
A large part of the house, the west atrium (6), with the connect- 




Fig. 182. — Orestes and Pylades before King Thoas. 
Wall painting from the house of the Citharist. 



ing rooms and the two peristyles, 17 and 32, was built in the 
Tufa Period, in the place of several older houses. The rooms 
east of the two peristyles, and the north atrium (47) and peri- 
style (56), with the adjoining rooms, were added in Roman times, 
probably near the end of the Republic ; the house was afterwards 
decorated in the second style. Remains of the third and fourth 
styles also are found in some parts of the house. The better 
apartments are grouped about the peristyles ; the rooms about 



354 POMPEII 

the atriums were turned over to the slaves or used for domestic 
purposes. 

In the large room (35) opening on the south peristyle were two 
paintings of unusual merit, both of which were transferred to the 
Naples Museum. The subject of one was the finding of the 
deserted Ariadne by Bacchus ; in the other Orestes and Pylades 
appear as captives before Thoas, the king of Tauris (Fig. 182). 

At the right of the picture sits Thoas, looking at the captives, 
his sword lying across his knees, his hands resting upon the end 
of his sceptre. Behind him stands a guard with a long spear in 
the right hand. Another guard with two spears stands behind 
Orestes and Pylades, whose hands are bound. Orestes, upon 
whose head is a wreath of laurel, looks downward, an expres- 
sion of sadness and resignation upon his finely chiselled fea- 
tures. Pylades is not without anxiety, but is alert and hope- 
ful. Between the two groups is an altar on which incense is 
burning. In the background Iphigenia is seen moving slowly 
forward ; the head is entirely obliterated. It is unfortunate 
that the painting is so badly preserved. The faces of the two 
youths are individualized with remarkable skill, and the picture 
here used as the centre of a decorative framework of the fourth 
style is evidently a copy of a masterpiece. 

On the south side of Abbondanza Street, opposite the Stabian 
Baths, is the house of Cornelius Rufus (VIII. iv. 15), a view of 
the interior of which has already been given. The name of the 
proprietor is known from the dedication on the herm (seen in 
Fig. 121), C. Comelio Rnfo; the carved table supports behind 
the impluvium are among the finest yet discovered. 

In the same block is the house of Marcus Holconius (VIII. 
iv. 4), a good example of a house completely restored and deco- 
rated after the earthquake of 63. The right ala was fitted up 
with shelves, on which at the time of the eruption were kitchen 
vessels of bronze, iron, and terra cotta. The colonnade about 
the peristyle was in two stories. From the columns at the front 
six jets of water, at a height of about four feet, fell forward into 
the gutter ; and there was an equal number at the rear. There 
was also a little fountain in the exedra at the rear of the peristyle. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

ROMAN VILLAS, — THE VILLA OF DIOMEDES 

Two classes of villas were distinguished by the Romans, — the 
country seat, villa pseiLdoiirbana, and the farmhouse, villa rus- 
tica. The former was a city house, adapted to rural conditions; 
the arrangements of the latter were determined by the require- 
ments of farm life. 

The country seats manifested a greater diversity of plan than 
the city residences. They were relatively larger, containing 
spacious colonnades and gardens ; as the proprietor was un- 
restricted in regard to space, not being confined to the limits 
of a lot, fuller opportunity was afforded for the display of indi- 
vidual taste in the arrangement of rooms. We can understand 
from the letters of Pliny the Younger, describing his two villas 
at Laurentum and Tifernum Tiberinum (now Citta di Castello), 
and from the remains of the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli, how far 
individuality might assert itself in the planning and building of 
a country home. 

The main entrance of a country seat, according to Vitruvius, 
should lead directly to a peristyle ; one or more atriums might 
be placed further back. The living rooms would be grouped 
about the central spaces in the way that would best suit the 
configuration of the ground and meet the wishes of the owner. 
In farmhouses there would naturally be a court near the en- 
trance ; and the hearth, as we have seen, down to the latest 
times, was placed in the room that corresponded with the atrium 
of the city house. In most parts of Italy a large farmhouse 
would contain appliances for making wine and oil. 

The arrangement of th%^wo types of country house in the 
vicinity of Pompeii may be briefly illustrated by reference to 
an example of each, the villa of Diomedes and the farmhouse 
recently excavated at Boscoreale. 

355 



356 



POMPEII 



The location of the villa of Diomedes, beyond the last group 

? * » d /* /^ /* /# of tombs at the left 
•»*-i — I — I — I — I — i — I — < -w"- 111 
of the road lead- 
ing from the Her- 
culaneum Gate, is 
indicated in Plan V. 
An extensive estab- 
lishment similar in 
character, the so- 
called villa of Cic- 
ero, lies nearer the 
Gate on the same 
side of the road; 
on the right there 
is a third villa, of 
which only a small 
part has been un- 
covered. The 
three seem to have 
belonged to a series 
of country seats sit- 
uated on the ridge 
that extends back 
from Pompeii in 
the direction of Ve- 
suvius. The villa 
of Diomedes, exca- 
vated in 1771-74, 
received its name 
from the tomb of 
Marcus Arrius Di- 
omedes, facing the 
entrance, on the 
side of 
the Street of Tombs 




Plan of the villa of Diomedes. 



19-21. Bath. (19. Apodyterium. 

20. Tepidarium. 21. Cal- 

darium.) 
22. Kitchen. 



Fig. 183 

I. Steps. 

3. Peristyle. 

8. Tablinum. 

10. Exedra. 

12. Dining room. 26. Colonnade, facing a terrace OPPOSltC 

14. Sleeping room, with anteroom (28) over the front rooms of 

(13). the lower part. 

15. Passage leading to a garden e,f,g,h. Colonnade enclosing a /pioT-) VT AO\ 

at the level of the street. large garden. ^ ' t- / 

17. Small court, with hearth (e) i, k, I, m. Rooms 

and swimming tank {Q. r. Fishpond. 

18. Storeroom. s. Arbor. 



The front of the 
villa forms a sharp 



THE VILLA OF DIOMEDES 357 

angle with the street. The orientation of the building was de- 
termined by an abrupt descent in the ground, which runs across 
the middle and divides it into two parts. The front part, the 
rooms of which are numbered on the plan (Fig. 183), is a few 
feet above the level of the street at the entrance. The rear por- 
tion, as may be seen from our section (Fig. 184), is considerably 
lower; on the plan the rooms of this portion are designated by 
letters. From traces of the second style of decoration found in 
two of the rooms, and from the character of the masonry, we 
infer that the villa was built in Roman times, but before the 
reign of Augustus. 

In front of the door was a narrow porch (Fig. 184). The 
door opened directly into the peristyle (3 on the plan), in the 
middle of which was a garden. At the left is a small triangular 
court (17) containing a swimming tank ( f) and a hearth (e) on 
which a kettle and several pots were found ; the Romans par- 
took of warm refreshments after a bath. The wall back of the 
swimming tank was in part decorated with a garden scene, not 
unlike those in the frigidariums of the two older public baths. 
Over the tank was a roof supported by two columns, and on the 
other two sides of the court there was a low but well propor- 
tioned colonnade. 

The arrangements of the bath were unusually complete, com- 
prising an apodyterium (19), a tepidarium (20), and a caldarium 
(21), from which the tepidarium was warmed by means of an 
opening in the wall ; the caldarium had a hollow floor and walls, 
and was heated from the kitchen (22). In the tepidarium were 
found four panes of glass about io|- inches square, together 
with the remains of the wooden frame in which they were set. 
The caldarium, like those of the public baths, had a bath basin 
and a semicircular niche for the labrum. 

A small oven stands on one end of the hearth in the kitchen, 
and a stone table is built against the wall on the long side. The 
room in the corner (23) was used as a reservoir for water, which 
was brought into it by means of a feed pipe and thence distrib- 
uted through smaller pipes leading to the bath rooms and other 
parts of the house. 

At the left of the peristyle is a passage (15) leading to a gar- 



358 POMPEII 

den which has not yet been excavated. The only apartment of 
special interest in this portion of the house is the semicircular 
sleeping room (14) built out into the garden. It faced the south, 
and had three large windows ; it was separated from the rest of 
the house by an anteroom, procoeton (13), at one end of which 
is a small division (/3) designed for the bed of an attendant. In 
the semicircular room are an alcove for a bed (7) and a station- 
ary wash bowl of masonry (S). The plan is similar to that of a 
bedroom in Pliny's villa at Laurentum. Another sleeping room 
(9) was provided with both a large and a small door (p. 261). 

The large room (8) at the rear of the peristyle may be loosely 
called a tabhnum ; it could be closed at the rear. Back of the 




Promenade on the roof of the colonnade Terrace 



Eight aim of colonnade {g, h) 



colonnade (d) 



Fig. 184. — Longitudinal section of 



tablinum was originally a colonnade (26), which was later turned 
into a corridor, with rooms at either end ; the original form is 
assumed in our restoration. Beyond the colonnade was a broad 
terrace (28) extending to the edge of the garden. It commanded 
a magnificent view of Stabiae, the coast in the direction of 
Sorrento, and the Bay. Connected with it was an unroofed 
promenade over the colonnade (e,/, g, Ji) surrounding the large 
garden below. A rectangular room '(27, indicated on the plan 
but not in the restoration) was afterwards built on the terrace. 

Members of the family could pass into the lower portion of 
the villa by means of a stairway, at b ; the slaves could use a 



THE VILLA OF DlOMEDES 



359 



long corridor (a), which was more directly connected with the 
domestic apartments. The flat roof of the quadrangular colon- 
nade (e, f, g, h) was carried on the outside by a wall, on the 
inside by square pillars (Fig. 184). The rooms (/, k) opening 
into the front of the colonnade were vaulted, and the decoration, 
in the last style, is well preserved; the ceiling of the corner 
rooms (/, ;;/) is flat, and the decoration of one of them (/) is 
noteworthy ; green and red stars are painted on a white ground. 
In the narrow space between i and c a cistern was built, from 
which water could be drawn by means of a faucet in front. 

At the opposite corners of the colonnade were two airy garden 
rooms (;/, 0). Outside of the left arm {e,f) was a broad walk 




-I'i-^'JK^-^ ] 



Peristyle 




%m^ 



3 



the villa of Diomedes, restored. 



(?/), at the upper end of which were steps leading to the garden 
above. 

The garden enclosed by the colonnade was planted with trees, 
charred remains of which were found at the time of excavation. 
In the middle was a fish pond (r), in which was a fountain. 
Back of it was a platform, over which vines were trained on a 
framework supported by six columns, making a pleasant arbor 
in which meals were doubtless often served. 

The door at the rear of the garden led into the fields. Near 
it were found the skeletons of two men. One of them had a 
large key, doubtless the key of this door ; he wore a gold ring 



36o POMPEII 

on his finger, and was carrying a considerable sum of money — 
ten gold and eighty-eight silver coins. He was probably the 
master of the house who had started out, accompanied by a 
single slave, in order to find means of escape. 

The floor of the three sides of the colonnade was a few feet 
higher than that of the front. Underneath was a wine cellar, 
lighted by small windows in the wall on the side of the garden ; 
it contained a large number of amphorae. 

At the time of the eruption many members of the family 
took refuge in the cellar. Here were found the skeletons of 
eighteen adults and two children: at the time of excavation the 
impressions of their bodies, and in some instances traces of 
the clothing, could be seen in the hardened ashes. Among the 
women was one adorned with two necklaces and two arm bands, 
besides four gold rings and two of silver. The victims were 
suffocated by the damp ashes that drifted in through the small 
windows. According to the report of the excavations, fourteen 
skeletons of men were found in other parts of the house, to- 
gether with the skeletons of a dog and a goat. 



KEY TO PLAN IV 



A. Court. 

1,5. Cistern curbs. 

2. Wash basin of masonry. 

3. Lead reservoir from which water 

was conducted to the reser- 
voir in the kitchen supplying 
the bath. 

4. Steps leading to the reservoir. 

B. Kitchen. 

1. Hearth. 

2. Reservoir containing water for 

the bath. 

3. Stairway to rooms over the bath. 

4. Entrance to cellar under the 

inner end of the first wine 
press, in which were the 
fastenings of the standard of 
the press beam. 

C-F. Bath. 

C. Furnace room. 

D. Apodyterium. 

E. Tepidarium. 

F. Caldarium. 

H. Stable. 

J. Tool Room. 

K, L. Sleeplxg Rooms. 

N. Dining Room. 

M. Anteroom. 

O. Bakery. 

1. MilL 

2. Oven. 

P. Room with Two Wine Presses. 

1, I. Foundations of the presses. 

2, 2, 2. Receptacles for the grape 

juice, dolia. 

3, Cistern for the product of the 

second pressing, laais. 

4, Holes for the standards of the 

press beams. 

5, 5. Holes for the posts at the 



ends of the two wdndlasses 
used in raising and low^ering 
the press beams. 
6. Pit affording access to the frame- 
work by which the windlass 
posts were tied down. 

Q. Corridor. 

I . Round vats, dolia. 

R. Court for the Fermentation 
OF Wine. 

1. Channel for the fresh grape 

juice coming from P. 

2. Fermentation vats, dolia. 

3. Lead kettle over a fireplace. 

4. Cistern curb. 

S. Barn, 7iubila?-iii;;i (?). 

T. Threshing Floor, a?'ea. 

U. Open Cistern for the Water 
falling on the threshing 
Floor. 

V-V. Sleeping Rooms. 

W. Entrance to Cellar under 
THE Inner End of the Sec- 
ond Wine Press ; see B. 4. 

X. Room with Hand Mill. 

Y. Room with Oil Press. 

1 . Foundation of the press. 

2. Hole for the standard of the 

press beam. 

3. Entrance to cellar with ap- 

pliances for securing the press 
beam. 

4. Holes for the windlass posts. 

5. Hole affording access to the 

fastenings of the windlass 
posts. 

6. Receptacle for the oil, geniellar. 

Z. Room containing the Olive 
Crusher. 




PLAN IV=— PLAN OF THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE. 



CHAPTER XLV 

THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE 

Less than two miles north of Pompeii, near the village of Bos- 
coreale, a farmhouse was excavated in 1893-94 on the property 
of Vincenzo de Prisco. In the last century similar buildings 
were brought to light in the vicinity of Castellammare, but they 
were covered up again. Especial importance attaches to this 
villa rustica, both on account of the extreme rarity of examples 
of the type and because of the character of the remains, 
which makes it possible to determine the arrangements with 
certainty. 

The living rooms, the stable, and the rooms used for the 
making of wine and oil were all under one roof. The size of 
the building is not so great as might have been assumed from 
the variety of purposes which it served ; the enclosed area, 
exclusive of the threshing floor, measures about 130 by 82 feet. 
The plan (Plan IV) is regular, the principal entrance being near 
the middle of the southwest side. 

The entrance was wide enough for carts and wagons, which 
were kept in the court {A\ Along three sides of the court ran 
a colonnade, over which at the front were upper rooms ; the 
roof on the left side and the rear rested on columns connected 
by a parapet. Under the colonnade at the further corner is a 
cistern curb (i), on one side of which is a large wash basin of 
masonry (2) ; on the other is a pillar supporting a small reservoir 
of lead (3). The reservoir, reached by means of steps (4), was 
filled from the cistern. 

In a Roman farmhouse the kitchen was the large, central 
room (p. 253). Vitruvius recommends that it be placed on the 
warmest side of the court ; and in our villa rustica it lies at the 
north corner {B^ where, in winter, it would receive the full 
benefit of the sunshine. The hearth (i), on which remains of 

36: 



362 



POMPEII 



fire were found, stands in the middle of the room ; in the wall 
at the rear is a niche, ornamented to resemble the fagade of a 
diminutive temple, in which were placed the images of the 
household gods. 

A large door in the right wall of the kitchen opened into the 
stable (//). Near it was a stairway (3) leading to upper rooms; 
in the corner was a pit (4) affording access to a small cellar in 
which the standard of the press beam in the adjoining room 
(P, 4) was made fast. In the opposite corner was a reservoir 
of lead (2) standing on a foundation of masonry ; it received 
water from the reservoir in the court (^,3) and supplied the 
bath. On the same side of the room is the entrance to the bath 
and to the closet {G). 

The arrangements of this bath are in a better state of preser- 
vation than those of any other Roman bath yet discovered; the 

tank and reservoir with 
the connecting pipes 
may now be seen at 
Pompeii in the little 
Museum near the Fo- 
rum fitted up for the ex- 
hibition of the objects 
found in this villa. The 
bath rooms comprised 
an apodyterium {D), 
a tepidarium (E), and 
a caldarium {F) with a 
bath basin at one end 
and a labrum in a semi- 
circular recess at the other. The bath was heated from a small 
furnace room (Q. Over the hot air flue leading from the fur- 
nace into the hollow space under the floor of the caldarium was 
a water heater in the form of a half cylinder similar to the one 
found in the Stabian Baths (p. 194). The tepidarium, as well 
as the caldarium, had a hollow floor and walls. 

Over the furnace stood a round lead tank, the lower part of 
which was encased in masonry ; the pipes connecting it with 
the reservoir in the corner of the kitchen and with the bath 




Fig. 185. — Hot water tank and reservoir for supplying 
the bath in the villa rustica at Boscoreale. 



THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE 363 

rooms were found in place, and are shown in Fig. 185. The 
middle pipe supplied the tank with cold water ; the flow could 
be regulated by means of a stopcock. The lower pipe started 
from the reservoir, but before reaching the tank was divided, 
the left arm leading into the tank, the other into the bath basin. 
As there were stopcocks in the main pipe and in the arm 
entering the tank, by adjusting these the bath basin could be 
supplied with either hot or cold water through a single pipe. 
The upper pipe was divided in the same way, one arm leading 
to the labrum. In the public baths there was a separate tank 
for lukewarm water ; here a moderate temperature was obtained 
by mixing hot and cold water. 

At the bottom of the tank (seen at the right) is a short bib- 
cock used when the water was drawn off. On the side of the 
reservoir we see the end of the feed pipe leading from the 
reservoir in the court ; at the right is a supply pipe which con- 
ducted to the stable (i7) water not needed for the bath. 

On the same side of the court is a tool room (J\ in which 
were found remains of tools ; several sickles were hanging on 
the walls. Next are two sleeping rooms {K, L)\ a passage 
between them leads to the bakery, with a single mill (i) and 
oven (2), In the corner is a dining room (A^), in which the 
remains of three couches were found ; it was separated from the 
court by an anteroom {M\ 

Over the colonnade on the front side of the court was a sleep- 
ing room with a large room adjoining, perhaps the bedroom of 
the overseer, villiciis^ which, according to Varro should be near 
the entrance. 

The oblong room at the northeast side of the court contained 
appliances for making wine. At each end was a large press 
with a raised floor (fonnn, i). The presses were operated on 
the same principle as that previously described (p. 336, Fig. 168). 

At the rear of each press was a strong standard {arbor, 4), to 
which the inner end of the press beam {prelum) was attached. 
In front stood two posts {stipites, 5-5), to which were fitted the 
ends of a horizontal windlass. By means of a pulley and a rope 
passed around the windlass, the outer end of the press beam 
could be raised or lowered. When it was lowered in order to 



364 POMPEII 

increase the pressure on the grapes, both standard and windlass 
posts would be pulled out of the ground unless firmly braced. 
Under the rear of each press was a small cellar, in which was 
placed a framework for holding the standard in place. One 
was entered from a pit in the corner of the kitchen (^, 4), the 
other from a similar depression in a small separate room ( W) ; 
at 6 was a pit for fastening the windlass posts. 

The grape juice ran into round vats (2, 2) sunk in the ground. 
In front of the first press are two, in front of the second only 
one ; a cistern of which the curb (3) is indicated on the plan, 
here takes the place of the other vat. The cistern could be filled 
also from the first press by means of a lead pipe under the floor. 
The round vats were for the pure juice of the first pressing. 
Into the other was conducted the product of the second press- 
ing ; the remains of the grapes, after the juice had ceased to 
flow, were drenched with water and again subjected to pressure. 

In Pliny's '' Natural History" (XIV. xxi. 136) we read that in 
Campania the best wine underwent fermentation in the open air, 
exposed to sun, rain, and wind. This villa supplies an interest- 
ing confirmation of the statement ; the round fermentation vats 
fill a large court (R), the walls of which are pierced with open- 
ings in order to give readier access to the wind. Along one side 
runs a channel of masonry about three feet above the ground (i), 
protected by a narrow roof; thence the grape juice was distrib- 
uted through lead pipes to the vats. During the vintage season, 
the inner end of the channel was connected with the press room 
by means of a temporary pipe or channel entering the wall above 
the cistern {P, 3). 

The surface of this court is higher than that of the rest of the 
building ; instead of excavating in order to set the large earthen 
vats in the ground, the proprietor filled in with earth around 
them. In one corner is a lead kettle (3) with a place for building 
a fire underneath ; perhaps wine was heated in it. The vats in 
the court seem not to have been used exclusively for wine. In 
one w^ere found remains of wheat, in another of millet. Other 
vats stood in the passageway on the side of the court (Q, i). 

Three of the small rooms toward the rear were sleeping rooms 
( V- V). In another (X) was found a hand mill. At the end of 



THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE 



365 



the passageway was a double room containing the appHances 
for making oil, a press (in V) and a crusher (in Z). The press 
was like the wine press described above, only much smaller, with 
a raised floor (i), a standard for the press beam (2), a pit for 
bracing the standard of the press beam (3), two posts at the 
ends of the windlass (4, 4), a pit from which a crosspiece con- 
necting these posts could be reached, and a vat (6) at one side 
for receiving the oil. This vat, for some reason not understood, 
was divided into two parts by a partition in the middle. 




Fig. 186. — Olive crusher. 



The olive crusher, trapctnvt, now in the Museum at Pompeii 
mentioned above, is shown in the accompanying illustration 
(Fig. 186). It was designed to separate the pulp of the olives 
from the stones, which were thought to impair the flavor of the 
oil. It consists of a deep circular basin of lava, so hollowed 
out as to leave in the centre a strong standard of the stone, 
niiliarhim. In the top of this standard was set an iron pin, 
on which was fitted a revolving wooden crosspiece (shown in 
Fig. 186, restored). This carried two wheels of lava, having the 
shape of half a lens, which travelled in the basin. The wheels 
were carefully balanced so that they would not press against 
the side of the basin and crush the stones of the olives. 



366 



POMPEII 



In the long room 5 remains of bean straw and parts of a 
wagon were found. South of it is the threshing floor (7^), the 
surface of which is raised above the ground and covered with 
Signia pavement. The water that fell upon the threshing floor 
was conducted to a small open cistern {U). 

For at least a part of the year the proprietor of the villa 
probably lived in it. So elaborate a bath would not have been 
built for the use of slaves ; and in the second story was a modest 
but comfortable series of apartments (over V, W, X, and part 




Fig. 187. — Silver patera with a representation of the city of Alexandria in high relief. 
From the Boscoreale treasure. 



of Q), apparently designed for the master's use, as was also the 
dining room (JV) with K and L. 

In a place where such a find would least have been antici- 
pated — the cistern in the room of the wine presses — was made 
a remarkable discovery of treasure. Here a man had taken 
refuge, and with his skeleton were found about a thousand gold 
coins, four gold bracelets, ear-rings, a gold chain, and the beauti- 
ful collection of silver ware (p. 380) afterwards presented by 
Baron Rothschild to the Louvre. 



CHAPTER XLVI 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



Much less large furniture has been found at Pompeii than is 
ordinarily supposed. In not a single sleeping room has a bed 
been preserved ; and in only one of all the dining rooms have 
sufficient remains of the dining couches been found to make it 
possible to reconstruct them. Beds, couches, chairs, and tables 




Fij 



Dining couch with bronze mountings, the wooden frame being restored. 



were ordinarily of wood, which crumbled away, leaving slight 
traces. Reference has been made elsewhere to the marble 
tables standing in the atrium, and occasionally in other parts of 
the house. Tables of bronze are infrequently met with, while 
bronze chairs are almost as rare as bronze couches. 

Wood was not a suitable material for many classes of smaller 
articles, and these, made of bronze, clay, glass, or stone, are 

367 



368 



POMPEII 




Round marble table. 



found in great numbers. Such are the lamps, the bronze lamp 
stands, the kitchen utensils, the table furnishings, and the toilet 
articles of bronze, ivory, or bone. 

The wooden frame and end board of one of the dining couches 
just mentioned was completely charred, but the form was clearly 

indicated, and the wood- 
' """i'iiii"iimm» work has been restored 

(P'ig. 1 88). The couch 
is now in the Naples 
Museum, as are also the 
other articles of furniture 
illustrated in this chapter. 
The half figures on the 
front of the end board, 
shown more plainly in the 
detail at the left of the 
illustration, were cast; 
the rest of the mounting was repo?tsse wor'k. The bronze on the 
side toward the table was inlaid with silver. The end boards 
were placed at the head of the up- 
per couch and the foot of the lower 
one (p. 263); the middle couch 
did not have a raised end. The 
mattress rested on straps stretched 
across the frame. The dining 
room in which the couches were 
found adjoins the tablinum of a 
house in the seventh Region (VII. 
ii. 18). 

The carved marble supports of 
a gartibulum are shown in Fig. 
121 ; a complete table of a plainer 

type is seen in Plate VII. An example of a round marble table, 
found in 1827 in a house near the Forum, is presented in Fig. 
189. The three legs are carved to represent those of lions, a 
lion's head being placed at the top of each. A table of similar 
design was found in the peristyle of the house of the Vettii, 
with traces of yellow color on the manes of the lions (p. 326). 




Fig. 190. — Carved table leg, found in 
the second peristyle of the house 
of the Faun. 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



369 



Among the best examples of ornamental carving is the marble 
table leg in the form of a sphinx, found in the second peristyle 
of the house of the Faun (Fig. 190). Effective also is the bold 
carving of the gartibulum in the north atrium of the house of 
Siricus (VII. i. 25). 

Small tables or stands of bronze supported by three slender 
legs were called tri- 
pods. The top was 
flat, but not infre- 
quently surrounded by 
a deep rim, making a 
convenient receptacle 
for Hght objects. The 
rim of the example 
shown in Fig. 191 is 
ornamented with fes- 
toons and bucrania, 
while the upper parts 
of the legs are modelled 
to represent winged 
sphinxes. This stand 
was not found in the 
temple of Isis, as is 
often stated, but proba- 
bly in Herculaneum. 

The bisellium, the 
'seat of double width,' 
was a chair of simple 
design without a back, 
used in the Theatre and 
Amphitheatre by mem- 
bers of the city council 
and others upon whom 
the " honor of the bisel- 
lium " had been con- 
ferred. The remains of one with bronze mountings have been 
restored. The restoration, however, does not seem to be correct 
in all particulars, and instead of presenting it we may refer the 




Fig. 191. 



Bronze stand with an ornamented rim around 
the top. 



370 



POMPEII 




Fig. 192. — Lamps of the simplest form, with one 
nozzle. 



reader to the somewhat conventional biseUium carved on the 
tomb of Calventius Quietus (Fig. 242). 

The lamps are found in a great variety of forms. The essen- 
tial parts are the body, containing the oil, which was poured in 

through an opening in the 
top, and the nozzle with 
a hole for the wick (Fig. 
192). Hand lamps were 
usually provided with a 
handle, hanging lamps 
with projections contain- 
ing holes through which 
the chains could be passed. 
The opening for the admission of oil was often closed by an 
ornamental cover (Figs. 195, 196). In front of it, near the base 
of the nozzle, was frequently a much smaller orifice through 
which a large needle could be inserted to pick up the wick when 
it had burned out and 
sunk back into the oil, 
and air could be admit- 
ted when the cover was 
closed. 

The material of the 
lamps was clay or bronze. 
The bronze lamps were 
more costly and ordinarily 
more freely ornamented. 
Those of clay were left 

unglazed, or covered with a red glazing liJce that of the Arretian 
ware ; lamps with a greenish glaze are occasionally found. 

The light furnished by the wicks was dim and smoky. A 
more brilUant light was obtained by increasing the number of 




Fig. 193. — Lamps with two nozzles. 
At the left, a hanging lamp ; at the right, a hand lamp. 








Fig. 194. — Lamps with more than two nozzles. 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



371 




Fig. 



195. — Bronze lamps with ornamental 
covers attached to a chain. 



nozzles. Lamps with two nozzles are often found. These were 
sometimes placed at one end, the handle being at the other ; 
sometimes in the case of hanging lamps, at opposite ends, as in 
the example shown in Fig. 193. 

Lamps with several nozzles are not infrequently met with. 
The shape is often circular, as in two of the examples pre- 
sented in Fig. 194, one of 
which had six wicks, the other 
twelve. Sometimes a more 
ornamental form was adopted. 
Lamps having the shape of a 
boat are not uncommon ; the 
one represented in Fig. 194 
was provided wdth nozzles for fourteen wicks. 

The hanging lamps were sometimes made wdth a single nozzle, 
as the curious one having the shape of a mask shown in Fig, 197, 
at the left; sometimes with two nozzles (Fig. 193). Bronze 
hanging lamps with three arms, each of which contained a place 

for a wick, are occa- 
sionally found ; an ex- 
ample is given in Fig. 
197, at the right. Still 
more elaborate are 
those with a large num- 
ber of nozzles, as the 
one represented in the 
same illustration, which 
had nine wicks. 

The name of the 

maker is often stamped 

upon the bottom of the lamp, sometimes in the nominative case, 

as PuLCHER, in the example given in Fig. 192, more often in the 

genitive and in an abbreviated form. 

The variety displayed in the ornamentation of lamps was as 
great as that manifested in the forms. Ornament was applied to 
all parts, — the body^ the handle, the cover, and even the nozzle. 
The covers of the two bronze lamps shown in Fig. 196 are 
adorned with figures. On one is a Cupid struggling with a 




Fig. 196. — Bronze lamps with covers ornamented with 
figures. 



372 



POMPEII 



goose. The chain attached to the right hand of the figure on 
the other is fastened to a hooked needle for pulhng out the 
wick. 

The object of which we give a representation in Fig. 198, 
often erroneously classed as a lamp, is a nursing bottle, biberon. 






Fig. 197. — Three hanging lamps. 
The one at the left and the middle one are presented in two views. 



The material is clay, and the figure of a gladiator is stamped on 
it, symboliziijg the hope that the infant will develop strength 
and vigor. On some bottles of this kind the figure of a thriving 
child is seen, on others a mother suckling a child. 

Three kinds of supports for lamps may be distinguished ac- 
cording to their size : lamp standards, which 
stood on the floor and ranged in height from 
2\ to 5 feet ; lamp holders, not far from 20 
inches high, which were placed on tables ; and 
small lamp stands, also used on the table. 
The general term cajidelabrum was originally 
applied to candle holders containing several 
candles {candelae). Such candle holders have 
been found in Etruscan graves, but the can- 
delabra met with at Pompeii were all designed to carry lamps. 

The lamp standards, of bronze, are often of graceful propor- 
tions and ornamented in good taste. The feet are modelled to 
represent the claws (Pig. 199) or hoofs of animals. The slender 




Fig. 198. — A nursing 
bottle. 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



373 



shaft rises sometimes directly from the union of the three legs 
at the centre, sometimes from a round, ornamented disk resting 
on the legs. Above the shaft is usually an ornamental form, a 
sphinx, as in our illustration, a head, 
or a vase-like capital sustaining the 
round fiat top on which the lamp 
rested. Occasionally the shaft is re- 
placed by a conventional plant form. 

Adjustable standards also occur; 
the upper part slides up and down in 
the hollow shaft of the lower part, 
so that the height can be changed 
at will. 

The bronze lamp holders were 
sometimes designed to support a 
single lamp (Fig. 200). Frequently 
the main part divides into two 
branches, each of which sustains a 
small round disk for a lamp ; often 
the arms or branches were designed 
to carry hanging lamps. The exam- 
ple shown in Fig. 201 is from the 
villa of Diomedes. 

In the lamp holders conventional 
plant forms are more frequently met 
with than in the standards. The 
trunk of a tree with spreading 
branches is especially common (Fig. 
202). 

The lamp stands, which resemble 
diminutive bronze tables, are found 
in a pleasing variety of form and or- 
nament. The top is sometimes a 
round disk resting on a single leg 
supported by three feet ; sometimes, 
as in the example presented in 
Fig. 203, the legs are carried to the 
top, and the intervening spaces are utilized for ornamentation. 




Fig. 199. — Lamp standard, of bronze. 



374 



POMPEII 






Fig. 200. — Lamp "holder for a 
hand lamp. 



Fig. 201. — Lamp holder for hanging 
lamps. 




Fig. 202. — Lamp holder in the form 
of a tree trunk. 



Fig. 203. — Lamp stand, of bronze. 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



375 



The lamp seen in this ilhistration is the same as that shown 
more clearly in Fig. 196, at the right. 

Kitchen utensils of bronze and red earthenware have been 
found in great quantity ; table furnishings more rarely. A 
group of typical examples is presented in Fig. 204. The forms 
are so similar to those of the utensils found in modern house- 
holds that few words of explanation are needed. 




Fig. 


204.- 


-Bronze utensils. 




a. Kettle mounted on a r, d. Pails. 






k. Pitcher. 


.J. Pastry mould. 


tripod ready to be e. Ladle. 






VI. Kitchen spoon. 


q, u. Wine ladles. 


placed on the fire. f. Dipper. 






n, V. Table spoons. 


r. Two-handled pan. 


b, g, h, I. Cooking pots. /, t. Baking 


pans 


for 


o,p. Frying pans. 




small cakes. 









The pastry mould {s) is of good size and neatly finished, and 
must have left a clear impression. Besides the two types of 
table spoons illustrated here {it, v) a third is represented by ex- 
amples found at Pompeii, the coc/i/ear, which had a bowl at one 



376 



POMPEII 



end and ran out into a point at the other. The point was 

used in picking shellfish out of their shells, the bowl in eating 

eggs. 

The two long ladles were used in dipping wine out of the 

mixing bowl into the cups. The ancients ordinarily drank their 

wine mingled with water ; for mixing the 
liquids they used a large bowl of earth- 
enware or metal, which was often richly 
ornamented. The mixing bowl pre- 
sented in Fig. 205 was found in a house 
on Abbondanza Street, near the en- 
trance of the building of Eumachia. It 
is in part inlaid with silver, and nearly 
twenty-two inches high. 

Hot water was often preferred for 
mixing with wine, and small heaters 
of ornamental design were sometimes 
used upon the table. The ancient 
name for these utensils is arUhepsa, 
' self-cooker ' ; the appropriateness of 
it is apparent from an example found 

at Pompeii, in which the coals of fire were entirely concealed 

from view. 




Fig. 205. — Mixing bowl, of bronze 
in part inlaid with silver. 




Fig. 206. — Water heater for the table, view and section. 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



377 



This heater (Fig. 206) has the form of an urn. In the mid- 
dle is a tube, the bottom of which is closed by a diminutive 
grate ; the arrangement is shown in the section at the right. 
In this tube the coals were placed, and when the water in the 
urn was hot, it could be drawn off by means of a faucet at the 
side. Back of the faucet is a small vertical vent tube. 

In some cases the appearance of a heater was more suggestive 
of its purpose. One (Fig. 207) has the form of an ordinary 
brazier, the water being heated in the hollow space about the 




Fig. 207. — Water heater in 
the form of a brazier. 




Fig. 208. — Water heater in the 
form of a brazier representing 
a diminutive fortress. 





Fis:. 210. — Combs. 



Fig. 209. — Appliances for the 
bath. 



fire pan. In another instance (Fig. 208) the brazier is orna- 
mented with towers and battlements Hke those of a diminutive 
fortress ; the faucet can be seen in our illustration, on the 
left side. 

An interesting group of toilet appliances for the bath was 
found in the Baths north of the Forum (Fig. 209). Hanging 
from a ring were an unguent flask, four scrapers {strigiles\ and 
a shallow saucer with a handle in which the unguent was poured 
out when it was to be applied. One of the scrapers is repeated 
in a side view at the right, and both side and front views of the 



378 



POMPEII 



Small articles of toilet are discovered in a good state of 
preservation. The forms in most cases do not differ greatly 
from those to which we are accustomed. 

The fine comb seen in Fig. 210a is of bone; the two coarse 
combs (Fig. 210 l? and Fig. 214^/) are of bronze. 




Fig. 211. — Hairpins. Underneath, two 
small ivorv toilet boxes. 




Fig. 212. — Glass box 
for cosmetics. 




Fig. 213. — Hand 
mirrors. 




Fig. 214. — Group of toilet 
articles. 



a. Standing mirror. 
d. Ear cleaner. 



c. Ivory box for cosmetics. 

d. Bronze comb. 



The ends of the hairpins were often ornamented with figures. 
The specimens shown in Fig. 21 1 are of ivory. The designs in 
which female figures appear are in keeping with the use, but 
the ornamentation for the most part seems excessive. 

The toilet boxes, of glass or ivory, were used for a variety of 
purposes. Of those presented in our illustrations, one (Fig. 211, 
at the right) probably contained perfumed oil. The round 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 



379 




Gold arm band. 



glass box (Fig. 212) was used for cosmetics, as was also the ivory 

box seen in Fig. 214, the outside of which is carved in low relief. 
The mirrors were of metal, highly polished. The one seen in 

Fig. 214 was designed to stand 

upon a dressing case ; the other 

three (Fig. 213) are hand mir- 
rors. The frame of the rectan- 
gular mirror is modern ; whether 

or not this had a handle is not 

clear. 

Jewellery of gold and silver 

and other small objects wrought 

in the precious metals have 

now and then been found. A 

characteristic example of the 

jewellery is the large gold arm 

band in the form of a serpent, 

with eyes of rubies, found in 

the house of the Faun (Fig. 215). It weighs twenty-two 

ounces ; to judge from the size, it m.ust have been intended for 

the upper arm. 

Much more important, from the aesthetic point of view, are 

the cups and other 
articles of silver de- 
signed for table use. 
As these do not differ 
essentially from ob- 
jects of the same class 
found elsewhere, we 
should not be war- 
ranted in entering 
upon an extended dis- 
cussion of them here ; 
a few examples must 
suffice. 

Of the three cups 

a with repousse reliefs 

Fig. 216. — Silver cups. shown in Fig. 216, one 




38o 



POMPEII 



{a) has a simple but effective decoration of leaves. Another 
(<:) presents the apotheosis of Homer; the bard is being carried 
to heaven by an eagle, while on either side (detail in b) sits an 
allegorical figure — the Iliad with helmet, shield, and spear, and 
^j^t M^g^masa^ss^s^a^^ the Odyssey with a 




Fig. 216 e. — Detail of cup with Centaurs. 



sailor's cap and a steer- 
ing paddle. On the 
third (d, detail in Fig. 
216 e) we see a male 
and a female Centaur, 
withBacchicemblems, 
conversing with Cu- 
pids posed gracefully 
on their backs. This last is one of a pair found in 1835. 

The Boscoreale treasure contained a hundred and three speci- 
mens of silver ware, undoubtedly the collection of an amateur. 

Of the purely decorative pieces the finest is the shallow bowl 
{pJiiala, patera) 8 J inches in diameter, with an allegorical repre- 
sentation of the city of Alexandria, in high relief (Fig. 187). 
The city is personified as a female divinity — alert, powerful, 
majestic. Upon her head are the spoils of an elephant; the 
trunk and tusks project above, while the huge ears, hanging 
down behind, are skilfully adjusted to' the outline of the god- 
dess's neck. 

In the fold of her chiton, held by the right hand, and in the 
cornucopia resting on the left arm, are fruits of Egypt, among 
which grapes and pomegranates are easily distinguished. A 
representation of Helios appears in low rehef upon the upper 
part of the cornucopia ; below is the eagle, emblem of the Ptole- 
mies. A lion is mounted on the right shoulder of the goddess ; 
in her right hand she holds an asp, sacred to Isis, with head 
uplifted as in the representation described by Apuleius (Met. 
XI. 4); facing the asp is a female panther. 

Around the group in low relief are the attributes (not all dis- 
tinguishable in our illustration) of various divinities — the bow 
and quiver of Artemis, the club of Hercules, the sistrum of Isis, 
the forceps of Vulcan, the serpent of Aesculapius entwined 
around a staff, the sword of Mars in a scabbard, and the lyre of 



HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 381 

Apollo. A dolphin in the midst of waves (under the right hand) 
symbolizes the maritime relations of the city. 

The central medallion {emblemd) was made separately and 
attached to the bottom of the patera. Between it and the outer 
edge of the bowl is a band of pleasing ornament, composed of 
sprays of myrtle and laurel. The surface of the medallion was 
all gilded except the undraped portions of the goddess. The 
ears of the goddess were pierced for ear-rings, which were not 
found. The date of the patera can not be determined ; it is 
perhaps as old as the reign of Augustus. 

Among the cups, sixteen in number, two are especially note- 
worthy. They are four inches high, and form a pair ; they are 
ornamented with skeletons in high relief, so grouped that each 
cup presents four scenes satirizing human life and its interpre- 
tation in poetry and philosophy. 

Two scenes from one of the cups are shown in Fig. 217. At 
the left the Stoic Zeno appears, standing stiffly with his phi- 
losopher's staff in his left hand, his wallet hanging from his neck ; 
with right hand extended he points the index finger in indigna- 
tion and scorn at Epicurus, who, paying no heed to him, is taking 
a piece of a huge cake lying on the top of a small round table. 
Beside Epicurus an eager pig with snout and left foreleg up- 
lifted is demanding a share. Over the cake is the inscription : 
TO reXo^ rjBovri, ' the end of life is pleasure.' The letters of the 
inscription, as of the names of the philosophers, are too small to 
be shown distinctly in our illustration. 

No names are given with the figures in the other scene ; a 
kind of genre picture is presented. The skeleton in the middle 
is placing a wreath of flowers upon his head. The one at the 
right holds in one hand a skull which he examines contempla- 
tively — we are reminded of Hamlet in the scene with the grave- 
digger ; in the other hand (not seen in the illustration) is a 
wreath of flowers. The third of the principal figures holds in 
his right hand a bag exceedingly heavy, as indicated by the 
adjustment of the bones of the right arm and leg; over the bag 
is the word (f)66vot, 'envyings.' The object in the left hand is 
so Hght that its weight is not felt ; it is a butterfly, held by the 
wings, and above it is inscribed -^Irv^iov, a diminutive ^i 'v/^t'x^, 



382 



POMPEII 



' soul ' ; we shall later find another instance of the representa- 
tion of a disembodied soul as a butterfly (p. 398). It was perhaps 
the design of the artist to represent the figure as holding the 
bag behind him while presenting the butterfly to the one who is 
putting on the wreath. 

On either side of the middle figure are two others less than 
half as large. One, under the butterfly, is playing the lyre; 
over his head is the word repy^n^, 'pleasure.' The second is 




Fig. 217. — Silver cup with skeleton groups. From the Boscoreale treasure. 

clapping his hands, and above him is a Greek inscription which 
gives the thought of the whole design : ' So long as you live 
take your full share ' of life, 'for the morrow is uncertain.' 

Both cups had evidently long been in use ; there are still some 
traces of gilding, which, however, seems not to have been applied 
to the skeletons. While the explanatory inscriptions are in 
Greek, a Latin name, Gavia, is inscribed on the under side of 
the second cup, in the same kind of letters as the record of 
weight (p. 508). The Gavii were a family of some prominence 
at Pompeii ; we are perhaps warranted in concluding that the 
cups were made by a Greek for this Pompeian lady, and that 
afterward they came into the possession of another lady. 
Maxima, who formed the collection. 



PART III 

TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS 

CHAPTER XLVII 

THE TRADES AT POMPEII.— THE BAKERS 

In antiquity there was no such distinction between trades and 
professions as exists to-day. In the Early Empire all activity 
outside the field of public service, civil and military, or the 
management of estates, was considered beneath the dignity of 
a Roman ; the practice of law, which had received its impulse 
largely from the obligation of patrons to protect their clients, 
was included among public duties. The ordinary work of life 
was left mainly to slaves and freedmen. Not only the trades, 
as we understand the term, but architecture and engineering, — 
in antiquity two branches of one occupation, — the practice of 
medicine, and teaching, were looked upon as menial. A Roman 
of Hterary or practical bent might manifest an interest in such 
vocations, but it was considered hardly respectable actively to 
engage in them. 

This attitude of mind, especially toward the higher occupations, 
is only explicable in the light of the social conditions then exist- 
ing. Men who kept slaves of every degree of intelligence and 
training, and were at all times accustomed to command, were 
not disposed to hold themselves in readiness to do another's 
bidding, excepting in the service of the State alone ; and work 
committed to slaves and freedmen naturally came to be consid- 
ered unworthy the employment of a gentleman. The freemen 
of the same craft were often united in guilds or corporations, 
for the administration of certain matters of mutual interest ; but 
nothing is known in regard to the activities of such organizations 
at Pompeii. 

383 



384 POMPEII 

In a city as large as Pompeii, all the occupations corresponding 
to the needs of daily life must have been represented. The re- 
mains of the appliances and products of labor are of the most 
varied character, sometimes far from satisfactory, raising more 
difficulties than they solve ; yet often revealing at a glance the 
ancient methods of work, and casting light upon the economic 
background of Greek and Roman culture. The excavations 
have brought before us three sources of information, inscrip- 
tions, paintings, and the remains of buildings or rooms used as 
workshops. 

The inscriptions refer to more than a score of occupations ; 
from farming to innkeeping, and from hairdressing to gold- 
working. Most of them are election notices, in which the 
members of a craft unite, or are exhorted to unite, in recom- 
mending a certain candidate for a municipal office. These are 
painted in red letters on the walls along the streets, and are much 
alike, though some are fuller than others. The simplest form 
contains only three words, as Trebiiun aed. tonsores, — ' The 
barbers recommend Trebius for the office of aedile.' The more 
elaborate recommendations may be illustrated by the following : 
Vernni aed. 0. v. f. (for aedilem, oro vos, facite), ungiientari^ 
facite, rog\o\ — ' Do make Verus aedile, perfumers, elect him, I 
beg of you.' The whole craft of goldsmiths favored the election 
of Pansa : C. Cuspimn Pansam aed. aiirifices iiniversi rog\ant\ 
— ' All the goldsmiths recommend Gaius Cuspius Pansa for the 
aedileship.' 

The recommendations of the fruit sellers are particularly 
conspicuous. On one occasion they joined with a prominent 
individual in the support of a ticket : M. HolconiuDi Priscjun II 
vir. i. d. pomari imiversi ciun Helvio Vestale rog., — * All the fruit 
sellers, together with Helvius Vestalis, urge the election of M. 
Holconius Priscus as duumvir with judiciary authority.' There 
may have been some special reason why the fruiterers wished 
to keep in favor with the city authorities, and so took an active 
part in the elections ; the dealers in garlic {aliari) also had a 
candidate. 

Among the representatives of other employments that joined 
in the support of candidates were the dyers {offectores), cloak- 



THE BAKERS 385 

cutters {sagarii\ pack-carriers {saccarii), mule-drivers {jimlioncs), 
and fishermen {piscicapi). The inscription in which reference 
is made to the gig-drivers is mentioned elsewhere (p. 243). 

The paintings in which we see work going on are numerous. 
By far the most pleasing are those in which the workmen are 
Cupids, busying themselves with the affairs of men. Several 
pictures of this kind have already been described (pp. 97, 332- 
337); but we ought to add to those mentioned two scenes from 
Herculaneum, often reproduced, in which Cupids are repre- 
sented as carpenters and as shoemakers. 

Among the more important paintings in w^hich the figures of 
men appear are those which picture the life of an inn and those 
that present the processes of cleaning cloth ; both groups are 
reserved for later discussion. In a house in the ninth Region 
(IX. V. 9) a stuccoer is pictured at work putting the finishing 
touches on a wall with a smoothing tool, and in the house of 
the Surgeon an artist is seen painting a herm (Fig. 133). 

In only a few instances are the remains of workshops suffi- 
ciently characteristic to indicate their purpose. Among the 
most impressive, to the visitor at Pompeii, are the ruins of the 
bakeries, with their large millstones (Fig. 218). Equally im- 
portant, also, are the remains of the fulleries, and of a large 
tannery, which, as well as those of the inns and winerooms, 
will be discussed in separate chapters. 

A few out of the hundreds of shops opening on the streets 
contain remains of the articles exposed for sale. The discovery 
of charred nuts, fruits, and loaves of bread in the market stalls 
north of the Macellum has already been noted (p. 96). We 
know the use of other shops from the remains of paints found 
in them. The arrangements of such places of business were 
discussed in connection with those of the Pompeian house. 

Several establishments which contain large lead kettles set in 
masonry, with a place for a fire underneath, have been identi- 
fied as dyehouses. In the case of one on Stabian Street (VII. 
ii. 11), the identification seems complete. Nine such kettles 
stood in the peristyle, which has a direct connection with the 
street ; in a closet were numerous bottles, part of which con- 
tained coloring materials. There was formerly a painting on the 



386 



POMPEII 



wall of the entrance, representing a man carrying on a pole 
an object which had the appearance of a garment fresh from 
the dye. 

On the opposite side of the street is the election notice : 
Postumium Procithnn aed. ojfcctorcs rog\_ant\ — 'The dyers 
request the election of Postumius Proculus as aedile.' The 
house on which this inscription is painted (IX. iii. 2) contained 
three kettles similar to those already mentioned ; the dyers of 





-»■*■./- - ^ . 


^-, -.--_ 




«>!- 




- 




•^ "^ i^H^^s 








||H^&^ir' 




p.. 












^^^^^>|<i 


^ ^ 


r 
IP' 


jKw^^ a^B ^^^^^^^Hb 


^K~ ^^^^^^^H 


it' 


r/ . 


i^'f'' , , tSkSKKKKKH^^^Kk 


P ■'^^! 


1': 


f 


|E^^'^HPRT^^^^^^^^^H 


*> ■ 


% 


^^^ 


, 1^ 


^^^^> --.^1 



Fig. 218. — Ruins of a bakery, with millstones. 

both establishments may have united in supporting the candi- 
dacy of Proculus. 

A potter's workshop, with two ovens, is located outside the 
Herculaneum Gate, where the streets divide opposite the villa 
of Diomedes (Plan V, 29-30). The ovens, which are not large, 
have an upper division, in which were placed the vessels to be 
baked, and a firebox underneath, the floor above being pierced 
with holes to let the heat through. The vault of one of the ovens 
was constructed of parallel rows of jars fitted into one another. 

There was a shoemaker's shop on the northwest corner of 



THE BAKERS 387 

Insula VII. i opening upon two streets. It is connected with 
the entrance hall of the adjoining house (No. 40), and near the 
middle is a small stone table. The identification rests upon the 
discovery here of certain tools, particularly leather-cutters' knives 
with a crescent-shaped blade ; there was also an inscription on 
the wall, making record of some repairing done 'July 14, with a 
sharp-cornered knife {scalpro angidato) and an awl.' Apparently 
the porter of the house {ostiamis) was at the same time a cob- 
bler, as frequently in Italy to-day. 

On the same wall is another scribbhng : M. Nonius Canipa- 
nus mil. coh. Villi pr. > Cacsi, — ' Marcus Nonius Campanus, a 
soldier of the ninth praetorian cohort, of the century led by 
Caesius.' The name of the centurion, M. Caesius Blandus, is 
scratched twice on the columns of the peristyle in the same 
house. Captain and private may have come from Rome in the 
escort of an emperor. Perhaps the centurion was quartered in 
this house ; the soldier, waiting to have his shoes mended, 
scratched his name upon the wall. 

The better houses were so freely adorned with statuettes and 
other ornaments of marble that there must have been marble- 
workers in the city. The workshop of one was found, in 1798, 
on Stabian Street, near the Large Theatre. It contained various 
pieces of carving, as herms, table feet, and table tops ; there was 
also an unfinished mortar, together with a slab of marble partly 
sawed, the saw being left in the cut. 

Signs of shops are not often seen in Pompeii, but two or three 
may be mentioned. In the wall of a shop-front in the block 
containing the Baths north of the Forum, there is a terra cotta 
plaque with a goat in relief, to indicate the place of a milk 
dealer ; and not far away we find a sign of a wineshop, a tufa 
relief of two men carrying between them an amphora hung 
from a pole supported on their shoulders. 

Not all such reliefs, however, are signs of shops. Near 
the Porta Marina (at the northwest corner of Insula VII. xv), a 
tufa block may be seen near the top of the wall, showing a 
mason's tools in rehef ; above it is the inscription, Diogenes 
strnctor, 'Diogenes the mason.' This is not a sign — the 
inscription can hardly be read from below ; it is, moreover, on the 



388 POMPEII 

outside of a garden wall, with no house or shop entrance near 
it. It is rather a workman's signature ; Diogenes had built the 
wall, and wished to leave a record of his skill. 



In antiquity the miller and the baker were one person. We 
rarely find in Pompeii — and then only in private houses — an 
oven without mills under the same roof. There were many 
bakeries in the city. The portion already excavated contains 
more than twenty, each of them with three or four mills ; bread 
was furnished, therefore, by a number of small bakeries rather 
than by a few large establishments. 

The appearance of a bakery to-day, with its mills and its large 
oven, may be seen in Fig. 218. The arrangements can more 

easily be explained, however, from 
the plan of another establishment, 
one of the largest, in the third In- 
sula of Region V I . ( Fig. 219). Enter- 
ing from the street through the 
fauces, we find ourselves in an atrium 
of simple form (8) with rooms on 
either side; the tablinum (14) is here 
merely an entrance to the mill room 
(15). In the corner of the atrium 
is a stairway leading to a second 

I J^^[| r"^ story, which was particularly needed 

"^1 i" [fj ^ I here, because the living rooms at the 

I I ITIItIi rl ~^^^| rear were required for the bakery ; 

I j^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ I ^^^ ^°°^ ^^ ^^^ second story was 

I XI I supported by brick pillars at the 

^^7"""^ * 9 ^ corners of the impluvium, joined by 

flat arches. 

The four mills {b\ were turned 
by animals ; the floor around them 
is paved with basalt flags like those 
used for the streets. In the same room, at d, were the remains 
of a low table ; at c there is a cistern curb, with a large earthen 
vessel for holding water on either side, while the wall above was 
ornamented with a painting representing Vesta, the patron god- 




Fig. 219. — Plan of a bakery. 
8. Atrium. 17. Oven. 



15. Mill room. 

16. Stable. 



18. Kneading room. 

19. Storeroom. 



THE BAKERS 



389 




Fig. 220.- 



A Pompeian mill, without its 
framework. 



dess of bakers, between the two Lares. On one side of the oven 

(17) is the kneading room (18), on the other the storeroom (19). 

The room at the left (16) is 

the stall for the donkeys that 

turned the mills. 

The mills of Pompeii, with 

slight variations, are all of 

one type ; if there were water- 
mills on the Sarno, no trace 

of them has been found. The 

millstones are of lava (p. 15). 

The lower stone, meta, has 

the shape of a cone resting 

on the end of a cylinder, but 

the cylindrical part is in most 

cases partially concealed by a 

thick hoop of masonry, the 

top of which was formed into a trough to receive the flour, and 

was covered with sheet lead (Fig. 220). A square hole, five or 

six inches across, was cut in the top of the cone, in which was 

inserted a wooden standard ; 
this supported a vertical iron 
pivot on which the frame of 
the upper millstone turned. 

The shape of the upper 
millstone, catilhis^ may best 
be seen in Fig. 221. It was 
like a double funnel, the lower 
cavity being fitted to the cone 
of the lower millstone, while 
that in the upper part an- 
swered the purpose of a hop- 
per. The two cavities were 
connected at the centre by an 
opening similar to that of an 

hourglass, which left room for the standard and allowed the grain 

to run down slowly, when the catilliis was turned, to be ground 

between the two stones. The flour ran out at the base of the 




L; 



Fig. 221. — Section of a mill, restored. 



390 



POMPEII 



cone and fell into the trough, ready to be sifted and made into 
bread. 

The upper millstone was nicely balanced over the lower, the 
surface of which it touched but lightly ; it could not have rested 
on the under stone with full weight, for in that case the strength 
of a draft animal would not have sufficed to move it. The 
stones could be set for finer or coarser grinding by changing 
the length of the standard. 

The arrangement for turning the mill was simple. In shap- 
ing the upper millstone, strong shoulders were left in the nar- 
rowest part (Fig. 220), on opposite sides. In these square 

sockets were cut, in which the ends 
of shafts were inserted and firmly 
fastened by round bolts passing 
through the shoulders (Fig. 221). 
The shafts were tied to the ends of 
the crossbeam above by curved verti- 
cal pieces of wood, or by straps of 
iron, which were let into grooves in 
the stone and so made firm. The 
crosspiece above, which turned on the 
pivot in the end of the standard, was 
sometimes of iron, sometimes of wood 
with an iron socket fitting the pivot. 
The framework must necessarily have 
been exceedingly strong. One of the mills at Pompeii (IX. iii. 10) 
has lately been set up with new woodwork, and grinds very well. 
The smaller mills were turned by slaves, the larger by draft 
animals. Men pushed on the projecting shafts, but animals 
wore a collar which was attached by a chain or rope to the end 
of the crosspiece at the top. The links of the chain running to 
the crossbeam are distinctly shown in a relief in the Vatican 
Museum (Fig. 222), in which a horse is represented turning a 
mill. Blinders are over the eyes of the horse, which seems also 
to be checked up in order to prevent eating. A square hopper 
rests on the crossbeam, and the miller is bringing a measure of 
wheat to pour into it. On a shelf in the corner of the room is a 
lamp. 




Fig. 222. — A mill in operation. 
Relief in the Vatican Museum. 



THE BAKERS 



391 



The ovens were not unlike those still in use in many parts of 
Europe. They were shaped hke a low beehive, generally with 
some kind of a flue in front to make the fire burn inside while 
they were being heated. The oven in the 
bakery described above, however, has a 
special device for saving as much heat as 
possible (Fig. 223) ; it is entirely enclosed 
in a smoke chamber {b), with two open- 
ings above {d) for the draft. Fires were 
kindled in such ovens with wood or char- 
coal ; the latter was probably used here. 
When the proper temperature for baking 
had been reached, the ashes were raked out (in Fig. 223, e is an 
ashpit), the loaves of bread shoved in, and the mouth closed to 
retain the heat. A receptacle for water stands in front of our 
oven (/), a convenience for moistening the surface of the loaves 
while baking. The front of the oven (at c) was connected with 




Fig. 223. — Section of bake 
oven. 




Hjl| 






Fig. 224. — Kneading machine, plan and section. 



the rooms on either side, as may be more clearly seen by refer- 
ring to Fig. 219. In the kneading room (18), where were found 
remains of a large table and shelves, the loaves were made ready, 
and could be passed through one opening to the front of the 
oven ; the hot loaves could be conveniently passed through the 
other opening into the storeroom (19). 



392 POMPEII 

In many establishments a machine was used for kneading ; 
the best example is in a bakery on the north side of Insula xiv 
in Region VI. Such kneading machines are seen also in an- 
cient representations of the baker's trade, as in the reliefs of 
the tomb of Eurysaces, near the Porta Maggiore at Rome. 

The dough was placed in a round pan of lava a foot and a 
half or two feet in diameter. In this a vertical shaft revolved, 
to the lower part of which two or three wooden arms were at- 
tached (three in Fig. 224) ; the one at the bottom was strength- 
ened by an iron crosspiece on the under side, the projecting 
centre of which turned in a socket below. The side of the pan 
was pierced in two or three places for the insertion of wooden 
teeth, so placed as not to interfere with the revolution of the 
arms. As the shaft was turned, the dough was pushed forward 
by the arms and held back by the teeth, being thus thoroughly 
kneaded. Modern kneading machines are constructed on the 
same principle, but have two sets of teeth on horizontal cylin- 
ders revolving toward each other. 



CHAPTER XLVIII 

THE FULLERS AND THE TANNERS 

The work of the ancient fuller was twofold, to make ready 
for use the cloth fresh from the loom, and to cleanse garments 
that had been worn. As the garments used by the Romans 
were mainly of wool, and needed skilful manipulation to retain 
their size and shape, they were ordinarily sent out of the house 
to be cleansed ; in consequence the trade of the fuller was rela- 
tively important. In the part of Pompeii thus far excavated we 
find two large fulleries and one smaller establishment that can 
be identified with certainty; and there were doubtless many 
laundries, with less ample facilities, the purpose of which is not 
clearly indicated by the remains. The following account of the 
processes employed relates exclusively to woollen fabrics. 

At the time of the destruction of Pompeii, soap, a Gallic 
invention, was only beginning to come into use ; the commonest 
substitute was fuller's earth, creta fullonia, a kind of alkaline 
marl. For raising the nap, teasel does not seem to have been 
used, as with us, but a species of thorn {spina fullonia) the spines 
of which were mounted in a carding tool resembling a brush 
{aena)] the skin of a hedgehog also was sometimes utilized for 
this purpose. 

The fulling of new cloth involved seven or eight distinct pro- 
cesses, — washing with fuller's earth, or other cleansing agents, 
to remove the oily matter ; beating and stretching, to make the 
surface even ; washing and drying a second time, for cleaning 
and shrinking ; combing with a carding tool to raise the nap, 
brushing in order to make it ready for clipping, and shearing 
to reduce the nap to proper length ; then, particularly in the 
case of the white woollens so commonly used, bleaching with 
sulphur fumes ; and finally, smoothing in a large press. The 
process of cleaning soiled garments was more simple. 

393 



394 



POMPEII 



A series of paintings in the largest of the fulleries, on the 
west side of Mercury Street, picture several of these processes 
with great clearness. They were on a large pillar at the front 
end of the peristyle, from which they were removed to the 
Museum at Naples ; they supplement admirably the scenes of 

the Cupids' fuUery 
in the house of the 
Vettii, mentioned 
in a previous chap- 
ter (p. 335). 

In the first pic- 
ture (Fig. 225), the 
clothes are being 
washed. They are 
in four round tread- 
ing vats, which 
stand in niches 




Fig. 225. — Scene in a fullery: treading vats. 



formed by a low wall. One of the workmen is still treading his 
allotment, steadying himself by resting his arms on the walls of 
the niche at both 
sides ; the other 
three have finished 
treading and are 
standing on the 
bottom of their 
tubs, rinsing the 
garments before 
wringing them out. 
The next scene 
(Fig. 226) is three- 
fold. In the fore- 
ground at the left 
sits a richly 
dressed lady, to 
whom a girl brings 
a garment that has 
been cleaned ; that 
the woman is not one of those employed in the fullery is evident 




Fis;. 226. 



Scene in a fullery: inspection of cloth; carding; 
bleaching frame. 



THE FULLERS AND THE TANNERS 



395 



from her elaborate headdress, necklace, and bracelets. In the 
background a workman dressed in a tunic is carding a large 
piece of cloth. Near by another workman carries on his shoul- 
ders a bleaching frame, over which garments were spread to re- 
ceive the fumes of the sulphur ; he holds in his left hand the 
pot in which the brimstone was burned. An owl, symbol of 
Minerva, who was worshipped by fullers as their patron divinity, 
sits upon the frame ; and the man underneath has on his head 
a wreath of leaves from the olive tree, which was sacred to the 
same goddess. 

In the third picture a young man hands a garment to a girl ; 
at the right a woman is 
cleaning a carding tool. 
The fourth (Fig. 227) gives 
an excellent representation 
of a fuller's press, worked 
by two upright screws ; it 
is so much like our modern 
presses as to need no ex- 
planation. The festoons 
with which it is adorned 
are of olive leaves. 

With these pictures be- 
fore us, it will be easy to 
understand the plan of the 
fullery on the west side of 
Stabian Street, opposite 
the house of Caecilius Jucundus (Fig. 228). It was exca- 
vated in 1875. The building was not originally designed for a 
fuller's establishment, but for a private house, and part of the 
rooms were retained for domestic use, as the well preserved 
kitchen (d), and some of the other rooms opening off from the 
atrium (b). The furniture of the atrium — a table in front of 
the impluvium, with a pedestal for a fountain figure, and a 
marble basin to receive the jet — is like that of the house the 
interior of which is shown in Plate VII. 

The fuller's appliances are found in the shop next to the 
entrance (21), and in the peristyle {q). In the former are the 




Fig. 227. — A fuller's press. 



396 



POMPEII 



foundations of three treading vats, and on the opposite side an 
oblong depression in which the press was placed. The peristyle 
contains three large basins of masonry for soaking and rinsing 
the clothes. A jet of water fell into the one next the rear wall 
(3), from which, it ran into the other two through holes in the 
sides. Along the wall is a raised walk (4) on a level with the 
top of the basins, into which the workmen descended by means 
of steps. At the ends of this walk are places for seven tread- 
ing vats, five in one group, two in the other. The wall above is 

decorated with a long 
sketchy painting, in 
which the fullers are 
seen engaged in the 
celebration of a festi- 
val, — doubtless the 
Quinquatrus, the feast 
of Minerva ; the cele- 
bration is followed by 
a scene before a magis- 
trate, resulting from a 
A mass of fuller's earth 




' i-inri^ ! 



Fig. 228. — Plan of a fullery. 



fight engaged in by the celebrants 
was found in the passage at ;;/. 

From the receipts found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus, 
it appears that this thrifty Pompeian, in the years 56-60 a.d., 
rented a fullery belonging to the city. In view of the nearness 
of this establishment to his house, it seems likely that he was in 
charge of the business here. At the time of the eruption, 
however, the enterprise was in the hands of Marcus Vesonius 
Primus, who lived in the house next door (No. 20), where a por- 
trait herm, dedicated to him by his cashier iarcariiis), stands in 
the atrium ; the house is often called the house of Orpheus, from 
the large painting on the rear wall of the garden. 

To judge from the election notices painted on the front of the 
fullery and on the houses at either side. Primus must have taken 
an active interest in local poKtics. He was an ardent partisan, 
as witness this inscription : Cn. Helviimi aed. d. r. p. (for aedi- 
lem, dignum re publico) Vesonius Primus rogat, — ' Vesonius 
Primus urges the election of Gnaeus Helvius as aedile, a man 



THE FULLERS AND THE TANNERS 397 

worthy of public office.' The endorsement of Gavins Rufns is 
even stronger : C. Gavium Rufuni II vir. o. v. f. iitileui r. p. 
{dmimviriim, oro vos,facite, iitilem rei publicae) Vesonius Prinius 
rogat, — ' Vesonius Primus requests the election of Gains Gavins 
Ruf us as duumvir, a man serviceable to public interests ; do 
elect him, I beg of you.' 

In one of the shorter recommendations. Primus names his 
occupation : L. Ceiiun Secundum II v. i. d. Primus fullo 
ro]^gat\ — 'Primus the fuller asks the election of Lucius Ceius 
Secundus as duumvir v^^ith judiciary authority.' On one occa- 
sion he united v^ith his employees in favoring a candidate for 
the aedileship : Cn. Helvium Sabinum aed. Primus cum suis 
fac \it\, — * Primus and his household are working for the elec- 
tion of Gnaeus Helvius Sabinus as aedile.' 

The fullery on Mercury Street, like that just described, had 
been made over from a private house, built in the pre-Roman 
period. Among other changes, the columns of the large peri- 
style were replaced by massive pillars of masonry supporting a 
gallery above for the drying of clothes. At the rear are four 
square basins, the two larger of which are more than seven feet 
across ; the water passed from one to the other as in the basins 
of Primus's fullery. In the corner near the last basin are six 
rectangular niches for treading vats, separated by a low wall, the 
purpose of which is clear from Fig. 225. There is a vaulted 
room at the right of the peristyle, with a cistern curb, a large 
basin of masonry, and a stone table. Here a substance was 
found which the excavators supposed to be soap, but which was 
doubtless fuller's earth, like that found in the establishment on 
Stabian Street. 

There were naturally fewer tanners than fullers ; and so far 
only one tannery has been discovered. That is a large estab- 
lishment, however, fiUing almost an entire block near the Sta- 
bian Gate (Ins. I. v), excavated in 1873. Like the two larger 
fulleries, it occupied a building designed for a house. The 
appliances of the craft are found in only a small part of the 
structure ; they relate to two processes, — the preparation of 
the fluids used for tanning, and the manipulation of the hides. 



398 



POMPEII 



The mixture for the tan vats was prepared in a tank under a 
colonnade opening on the garden. It could be drawn off through 
two holes in the side into a smaller basin below, or conducted by 
means of a gutter running along the wall to three large earthen 
vessels. 

The vats, fifteen in number, are in a room formerly used as an 
atrium (Fig. 229). They are about 5 feet in diameter, and 

from 4 to about 5J feet 
deep ; they were built of 
masonry, and plastered ; 
two holes were made in 
the side of each to serve 
as a convenience in 
climbing in and out. 
Between adjacent pairs 
of pits was an oblong ba- 
sin about twenty inches 
deep, lined with wood. 
On either side of this 
was a large earthen jar, 
sunk in the earth ; a 
small, round hole between the basin and each jar seems to mark 
the place of a pipe tile, connected with the former at the bot- 
tom. The large pits were for ordinary tanning ; the oblong 
basins were probably used in making fine leather {aluici), a pro- 
cess in which alum was the principal agent, the chemicals being 
placed in the jars on either side, and supplied to the basins 
through the pipe tiles. 

In the same building four tools were found, similar to those 
used by tanners at the present time. One was a knife, of 
bronze, with a charred wooden handle on the back of the blade ; 
two were scraping irons, with a handle on each end; and there 
was another iron tool with a crescent-shaped blade. 

The garden on which the colonnade opened contains an open- 
air triclinium. The table was ornamented with a mosaic top, 
now in the Naples Museum, with a characteristic design (Fig. 
230). The principal motive is a skull; below is a butterfly on 
the rim of a wheel, symbols of the fluttering of the disembodied 




Fig. 229. — Plan of the vat room of the tannery. 



THE FULLERS AND THE TANNERS 



399 



so^al and of the flight of time. On the right and on the left are the 
spoik that short-Hved man leaves behind him, — here a wanderer's 
staff, a wallet, and a beggar's tattered robe; there, a sceptre, 
with a mantle of royal purple. Over all is a level, with the 




Fig. 230. — Jvlosaic top of the table in the garden of the tannery. 



plumb line hanging straight, symbolic of Fate, that sooner or 
later equalizes the lots of all mankind. The thought of the 
tanner, or of the earlier proprietor of the house, is easy to 
divine: Mors aiLrevi vcllcns, Vivite, ait, venio, 

' Death plucks my ear, and says, 
" Live ! " for I come.'' 



CHAPTER XLIX 

INNS AND WINESHOPS 

Wineshops, caiiponae, were numerous in Pompeii, and the 
remains are easily identified. Like the Italian osterie, they were 
at the same time eating houses, but the arrangements for drink- 
ing were the more conspicuous, and give character to the ruins. 
The Roman inn, Jiospitiinn, or simply caupona, was a wineshop 
with accommodations for the night, provision being also made 
in most cases for the care of animals. Keepers of inns, ampojies, 
are frequently mentioned in Pompeian inscriptions, sometimes in 
election notices, more often in graffiti. 

Several inns have been identified from signs and from scrib- 
blings on the walls within. At the entrance of one (west side 
of Ins. IX. vii) is painted Hospitinni Hygiiii Firnii, * Inn of 
Hyginius Firmus.' The front of the * Elephant Inn ' (west 
side of Ins. VII. i) was ornamented with the painting of an ele- 
phant in the coils of a serpent, defended by a pygmy. The 
name of the proprietor is perhaps given at the side : Sittius 
rcstituit elcpJiantu\in\ ' Sittius restored the elephant,' referring 
no doubt to the repainting of the sign. Evidently the owner, 
whether Sittius or some one else, was anxious to rent the prem- 
ises ; below the elephant is the painted notice : Hospitiii^n Jiic 
locatJtr — triclinimn cum tribns lectis, — ' Inn to let. Triclinium 
with three couches.' The rest of the inscription is illegible. 

The plan of another inn in the same region (west side of 
VII. xii) well illustrates the arrangements of these hostelries 
(Fig. 231). The main room {a\ which probably served as a 
dining room, is entered directly from the street. At one side is 
the kitchen {h) ; six sleeping rooms {b-g) open upon the other 
sides. But the landlord did not provide merely for the enter- 
tainment of guests from out of town ; he endeavored to attract 
local patronage also, by means of a wineshop (;/), which opened 

400 



INNS AND WINESHOPS 



401 




231. — Plan of an 
inn. 



upon the street and had a separate dining room {0). A short 
passage (z) led from the main room to the stalls {k\ in front of 
which was a watering trough. The vehicles were probably 
crowded into the recess at m, or the front of a. 
The two side rooms (/ and/) were closets. 

The walls of several of the rooms contain 
records of the sojourn of guests. C. Valerius 
Venustus, ' a pretorian of the first cohort, en- 
rolled in the century of Rufus,' scratched his 
name on the wall of c, to which also an affec- 
tionate husband confided his loneliness : ' Here 
slept Vibius Restitutus all by himself, his heart 
filled with longings for his Urbana.' Four 
players, one of them a Martial, passed a night 
together in the same apartment. In the next 
room (d) a patriotic citizen of Puteoli left a 
greeting for his native town : ' Well be it ever with Puteoli, col- 
ony of Nero, of the Claudian line ; C. Julius Speratus wrote this.' 
This city, as we learn from Tacitus, received permission from 
Nero to call itself Colonia Claudia Neronensis. Lucifer and 
Primigenius, two friends, spent a night in room /, Lucceius 
Albanus of Abellinum (Avellino) in^. 

The arrangement of rooms here is so unlike that of an ordi- 
nary house that the building must have been designed at the 
beginning for a tavern. Sometimes a dwelling was turned into 
an inn, as in the case of the house of Sallust, which, as we have 
seen, in the last years of the city must in part at least have 
been used as a hostelry. 

Inns near the gates had a paved entrance for wagons, inter- 
rupting the sidewalk. A good example is the inn of Hermes, in 
the first block on the right as one came into the city by the Sta- 
bian Gate (Fig. 232). On either side of the broad entrance {a), 
are winerooms {b, d). Behind the stairway at the right, which 
leads from the street to the second story, is a hearth with a 
water heater. On the wall at the left was formerly a painting 
with the two Lares and the Genius offering sacrifice ; below was 
the figure of a man pouring wine from an amphora into an 
earthen hogshead {do limn), and beside it was written Hermes ^ 



402 



POMPEII 



apparently the name of the proprietor. The wagons stood in 
the large room at the rear (/), with which the narrow stable {k) 
is connected ; in one corner is a watering trough of masonry. 
On the ground floor were only three sleeping rooms {e, g, and h), 
but there were upper rooms at the rear, reached 
by a flight of stairs in/; these were probably 

nnot connected with the upper rooms of the front 
f part, which (over a, b, c, d, e\ having a street 

entrance, may have been rented separately. 

The Pompeian inns were doubtless fair 
representatives of their class in the different 

L Roman cities. Those of Rome must have been 

I B '^ numerous, but are rarely mentioned, and inn- 
-1 J *^ keepers are generally referred to in terms of 

disrespect. The ordinary charges seem to have 
been low, and the accommodations were of a 
corresponding character. Owing to the univer- 
sal custom of furnishing private entertainment to all with whom 
there existed any ground of hospitality, places of public enter- 
tainment tended to become the resorts of the vicious. 




12 3 4 5 10 m 

Fig. 232. — Plan of the 
inn of Hermes. 




Fig. 233. — Plan of a 
wineshop. 



The wineshop of which the plan is here given (Fig. 233) is on 
the east side of Mercury Street, at the northwest corner of Ins. 
VI. X. It was designed not only for the ac- 
commodation of guests who would go inside 
to partake of refreshments, but also for the 
sale of drinks over the counter to those who 
might stop a moment in passing. This is evi- 
dent from the arrangement of the main room 
{a), which has a long counter in front, with a 
series of small marble shelves arranged hke stairs on one end of 
it, for the display of cups and glasses ; on the other is a place 
for heating a vessel over a fire. Large jars are set in the counter, 
in which liquids and eatables could be kept. In the corner of 
the room, at the right as one enters, a hearth is placed. In 
view of the provision for heating water, we are safe in calling 
this a tJiermopoliinn, a wineshop which made a specialty of fur- 
nishing hot drinks. The passage at the rear of the hearth {c) 



INNS AND WINESHOPS 



403 





"i fti^M' 



Fig. 234. — Scene in a wineshop. Wall painting. 



is connected with a small room (d) and also with the adjoining 
house, which may have been the residence of the proprietor, 
or may have been used for lodgings. 

The long room with an entrance from the side street {b, now 
walled up) was in- 
tended for the use of 
those who preferred to 
eat and drink at their 
leisure. The walls are 
decorated with a series 
of paintings presenting 
realistic scenes from 
the life of such places. 
We see the guests eat- 
ing, drinking, and play- 
ing with dice. Some 
are standing, others sit- 
ting on stools ; it is the 

kind of public house that Martial calls a 'stool-ridden cookshop,' 
in which couches were not provided, but only seats without 
backs (Mart. Ep. V. Ixx. 3). 

In one of the scenes (Fig. 234) four men are drinking, about 
a round table, while a boy waits on them ; two of the figures 

have pointed hoods like those 
seen to-day in Sicily and some 
parts of Italy. Strings of 
sausage, hams, and other eat- 
ables hang from a pole sus- 
pended under the ceiling. 

Some of the figures in the 

pictures are accompanied by 

inscriptions. Thus by the 

side of a guest for whom a 

waiter is pouring out a glass 

of wine is written : Da fri- 

dam ptisilhim, 'Add cold water — just a little.' In a similar 

connection we read, Adde calicem Setimim, ' Another cup of 

Setian ! ' The Setian wine came from a town in Latium at the 




Fig. 235. — Delivery of wine. Wall painting. 



404 POMPEII 

foot of the hills bordering the Pontine Marshes, now Sezze ; we 
infer that our wineshop sold not merely the products of neigh- 
boring vineyards, but choice brands from other regions as well. 
Wines from the locality were probably brought to town in am- 
phorae ; the delivery of a consignment from a distance is shown 
in a separate scene (Fig. 235), in which amphorae are being 
filled from a large skin on a wagon; the team of mules is mean- 
while resting, unharnessed, the yoke hanging on the end of the 
pole. 

The pictures present the life of a tavern from the point of 
view of the landlord; but occasionally we have a suggestion 
of the other side, as in the following couplet, the faulty spelling 
of which we can forgive on account of its pithiness: Talia te 
fallant iitinam me[ji\dacia, copo, Til veSji^des aaiani et bibes 

ipse nierwn, — 

' Landlord, may your lies malign 

Bring destruction on your head ! 
You yourself drink unmixed wine, 
Water sell your guests instead.' 

The wineshop in which this graffito is found (I. ii. 24) is 
larger than that on Mercury Street, and has several dining 
rooms. Connected with it is a garden with a tricHnium, once 
shaded by vines, which calls to mind the invitation of the bar- 
maid in the Copa : — 

' Here a garden you will find, 

Cool retreat, with cups and roses, 
Lute and pipe, for mirth designed. 
Bower that mask of reeds encloses. 

' Come, weary traveller, lie and rest 

'Neath the shade of vines o'er-spreading. 
Wreath of roses freshly pressed 

On your head its fragrance shedding.' 

All the pictures found in Pompeian wineshops bear out the 
inference, based upon numerous allusions in classical writers, 
that such places everywhere were in the main frequented by 
the lower classes; among the adjectives applied to taverns by 
the poets are 'dirty,' 'smoky,' and 'black.' They were haunted 
by gamblers and criminals, and the Ufe was notoriously immoral. 



KEY TO THE LEFT SIDE 



24. Villa of Diomedes. 



16- 


-23- 


Tombs — Group III. 




16. 


Unfinished tomb. 




17 


Tomb of Umbricius 
Scaurus. 




18. 


Round tomb. 




19. 


Sepulchral enclosure. 




20. 


Tomb of Calventius 
Quietus. 




21 


Sepulchral enclosure of 
Istacidius Helenus. 




22 


Tomb of Naevoleia 
Tyche. 




23 


Triclinium Funebre. 


5- 


15- 


So-called Villa of 
Cicero. 


I- 


^a. 


Tombs — Group I. 




I. 


Sepulchral niche of Cer- 
rinius Restitutus. 




2. 


Sepulchral bench of A. 
Veins. 




3- 


Tomb of M. Porcius. 




4- 


Sepulchral bench of 
Mamia. 




4« 


. Tomb of the Istacidii. 


A. 


Herculaneum Gate. 


C. 


Bay Road. 




PLAN v.— THE STREET 




KEY TO THE RIGHT SIDE 

Tombs — Group IV. 
33. Unfinished tomb. 



34- 

35- 
36. 

37- 
38. 

39- 

40. 
41. 
42. 
43- 



Tomb with the marble door. 

Unfinished tomb. 

Sepulchral enclosure with small 

pyramids. 
Tomb of Luccius Libella. 
Tomb of Ceius Labeo. 
Tomb without a name. 
Sepulchral niche of Salvius. 
Sepulchral niche of Velasius Gratus. 
Tomb of M. Arrius Diomedes. 
Tomb of Arria. 



Samnite Graves. 

Villa. 

10. II, 13, 14. Shops. 

12. Garden belonging to Tombs 

15. Street entrance of Inn. 



and 9. 



16-28. 
29-30. 



Rooms belonging to the Inn. 
Potter's establishment. 



Tombs — Group II. 

1. Tomb without a name. 

2. Sepulchral enclosure of Terentius 
Felix. 

3. 4. Tombs without names. 

5. Sepulchral enclosure. 

6. Garland tomb. 

7. Sepulchral enclosure. 

8. Tomb of the Blue Glass Vase. 

9. Sepulchral niche. 

A. Herculaneum Gate. 

B. City Wall. 
D. Road along City Wall. 

E-E. Vesuvius Road. 



OF TOMBS. 



PART IV 

THE TOMBS 

CHAPTER L 

POMPEIAN BURIAL PLACES. — THE STREET OF TOMBS 

The tombs of Pompeii, like those of Rome, were placed in 
close array along the sides of the roads that led from the city 
gates. Only a few have been uncovered ; how many still lie 
concealed under the mantle of volcanic debris that rests upon 
the plain, no one has yet ventured to conjecture. The tomb- 
stone of a magistrate of one of the suburbs was found at Scafati, 
a mile and a half east of the ancient town ; and others have been 
brought to light on the east, south, and west sides. The most 
interesting and best known tombs are those of the Street of 
Tombs, in front of the Herculaneum Gate ; but important re- 
mains have been found also near the Stabian and Nocera gates, 
and burial places of a humbler sort lie along the city wall near 
the Nola Gate. 

Most of the tombs thus far excavated belong to the Early 
Empire, having been built between the reign of Augustus and 
79 A.D. Two or three date from the end of the Republic ; and 
a small corner of an Oscan cemetery has been uncovered on the 
northwest side of the city. Remains of skeletons were found 
only in the Oscan graves ; the Roman burial places were all 
arranged with reference to the practice of cremation, the ashes 
being deposited in urns. 

The tombs present so great a variety of form and construction 
that it is impossible to classify them in a summary way, or to 
dismiss them with the presentation of two or three typical exam- 
ples. The character of the monument varied not merely accord- 

405 



4o6 POMPEII 

ing to the taste and means, but also according to the point of 
view or religious feeling of the builder. Some deemed it more 
fitting that the ashes of the dead should be covered over with 
earth ; others preferred to place them in a conspicuous tomb 
that would please the eye and impress the imagination of the 
beholder. To many the matter of paramount importance seemed 
to be the provision for the worship of the dead, the arrangement 
of the tomb so that offerings could easily be made to the ashes. 
Others still desired to have the sepulchre convenient for the liv- 
ing, who at times would gather there, and tarry near the resting 
place of the departed. And there were not a few who attempted, 
in the construction of a monument, to accomplish at the same 
time several of these ends. The architectural designs were sug- 
gested by the form of an altar, a temple, a niche, a commemora- 
tive arch, or a semicircular bench, schola. 

On account of this diversity of aim and of type, it will be most 
convenient to study the tombs in topographical groups, com- 
mencing with those at the northwest corner of the city. 

The highway that passes under the Herculaneum Gate runs 
almost directly west, descending with a gentle grade. Above it 
on the north side is the ridge formed by the stream of lava on 
the end of which the city lay ; here, before the eruption, were 
sightly villas. Below, to the south, was the sea, not so far away 
as now, over the shimmering surface of which the traveller, as 
he rode along, could catch charming gUmpses of the heights 
above Sorrento and of Capri. A short distance from the gate 
on the left, a branch road, which for convenience we may call 
the Bay Road, led directly to the sea. Another branch, on the 
right, followed the direction of the city wall; further from the 
gate on the same side, a third, which may be designated as 
the Vesuvius Road, ran off from the highway in the direction 
of the mountain. The highway itself, so far as excavated, has 
been named the Street of Tombs. 

The tombs that have been uncovered here are distributed in 
four groups. The first, on the left side, extends from the gate 
to the Bay Road; it comprises Nos. 1-4^ on Plan V. The 
second, on the right (Nos. 1-9), includes the tombs between the 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 407 

gate and the beginning of the Vesuvius Road. The third group, 
on the left, Hes between the ruins of the villa to which the name 
of Cicero has been attached and the villa of Diomedes ; the 
tombs are numbered on the plan 16-23. The monuments of 
the fourth group occupy the tongue of ground at the right be- 
tween the highway and the Vesuvius Road (33-43). The outer 
parts of the two villas by which the continuity of the series of 
tombs on both sides is interrupted, appear to have been used as 
inns ; along the street in front of each there was a colonnade 
supported by pillars, behind which were small rooms opening 
toward the street. 

At the further end of the villa on the right (10-29) is the pot- 
ter's workshop (29-30), mentioned in a previous chapter (p. 386). 
Beyond this are the Oscan graves (31-32), several of which have 
been explored. In them were found rough stone coffins, made of 
slabs and fragments of limestone, containing remains of skeletons 
together with small painted vases, of the sort manufactured in 
Campania in the third and second centuries B.C. Two coins 
were found, in separate graves, with Oscan legends that have 
not yet been deciphered ; apparently they were from Nola. 
The burial places lie close together, and evidently belong to a 
cemetery for people of humble station ; there are no headstones 
to mark the graves. This is the only place at Pompeii in which 
painted vases have been found. 

A narrow strip of land on each side of the road belonged to 
the city, and burial lots therein were granted by the municipal 
council to citizens who had rendered public service. Others, 
however, might obtain lots by purchase ; private ownership may 
be assumed unless the gift of the city is indicated in the inscrip- 
tion. The location of several tombs — i, 3, 4, 6 on the right, 
3 on the left — shows that the direction of the street near the 
gate was changed after sepulchral monuments had begun to be 
erected. 

An interesting inscription referring to the municipal owner- 
ship of land was found at the further corner of the Bay Road : 
Ex aiLctoritate imp. Caesaris Vespasiani Aug. loca piiblica a pri- 
vatis posscssa T. Sucdius Clemens tribumis caiisis cognitis et 
mensuris factis rei publicae Pompcianornm restitnit, — * By virtue 



4o8 POMPEII 

of authority conferred upon him by the Emperor Vespasian 
Caesar Augustus, Titus Suedius Clemens, tribune, having inves- 
tigated the facts and taken measurements, restored to the city 
of Pompeii plots of ground belonging to it which were in the 
possession of private individuals.' 

To judge from the location of the inscription, the land which 
the military tribune sent as commissioner by Vespasian gave 
back to the city, must have been at the sides of the Bay Road. 
A marble statue of a man dressed in a toga and holding a scroll 
in his hand, was found near by. It was probably a portrait of 
Suedius Clemens, and may have stood in a niche in the villa of 
Cicero. 

There is an implied reference to the Bay Road also in another 
inscription which was found out of its proper place, in the court 
of the adjoining inn : thermae • m • crassi • frvgi • aqva • 

MARINA • ET • BALN • AQVA • DVLCI • lANVARIVS • L ' Bathing 

establishment of Marcus Crassus Frugi. Warm sea baths and 
freshwater baths. (Superintendent) the freedman Januarius.' 
We learn from Pliny the Elder that M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, 
who was consul in 64 a.d., and was afterwards (in 6S) put to 
death by Nero, owned a hot spring which gushed up out of the 
sea. This spring, then, was at Pompeii, and was utihzed for 
baths. The inscription is at the same time an advertisement 
and a sign directing people down the Bay Road to the bath 
house. 

A general view of the Street of Tombs is given in Plate X. 
It is taken from the high ground beyond the fourth group, as 
one looks toward the Herculaneum Gate. The rugged mass of 
Monte Sant' Angelo looms up in the distance ; at the right the 
trees skirting the edge of the excavations form an effective back- 
ground. The beauty of the surroundings, especially on a sum- 
mer morning, the associations of the street, its deserted appear- 
ance, and the unbroken, oppressive stillness give rise to mingled 
feelings of pleasure and sadness in the visitor. 

We commence our survey with the first group of tombs 
at the left as one passes out from the Herculaneum Gate. 
Close by the gate is the tomb of Cerrinius Restitutus (i on 
the plan, left side). It is simply a low vaulted niche, having 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 409 

seats at the sides. Against the rear wall stood a marble tomb- 
stone, with a place for a carved portrait ; in front of it was a 
small altar under which doubtless was placed the urn contain- 
ing the ashes. Both altar and tombstone (now in the Naples 
Museum) have the inscription : M. Ccrrinms Restititttts^ Augitsta- 
lis, loc. d. d. d. (for locus datiis decuriojium decreto), — 'Marcus 
Cerrinius Restitutus, member of the brotherhood of Augustus. 
Place of burial granted by vote of the city council.' The tomb 
here was designed as a structure to w^hich relatives might repair 
on anniversary days in order to make offerings to the dead. 
The remains of the other tombs in the first group are shown 




Fig. 230. — Sepulchral benches of X'eius and Mamia; tombs of Porcius and the Istacidii. 

in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 236). We notice first two 
large semicircular benches. That at the left (2 on the plan) 
marks the resting-place of Veins. It is of tufa, and nearly 
twenty feet wide at the front. The ends are modelled to repre- 
sent winged lion's paws, the carving of which is full of vigor 
and may be compared with that of the Hon's paws in the Small 
Theatre (Fig. 70). The statue that once stood at the rear, on a 
high pedestal, has disappeared, but the inscription remains : 
A. Veio M. f. II vir. i. d. iter, qinnq. trib. milit. ab popiilo ex 
d. d., — 'To the memory of Aulus Veins, son of Marcus, twice 
duumvir with judiciary authority, quinquennial duumvir, military 
tribune by the choice of the people. (Erected) by order of the 
city council' The city not only gave a burial place, but built 



4IO POMPEII 

the tomb as well. The cinerary urn was probably placed in the 
earth in the narrow unwalled space behind the bench. 

This monument was intended at the same time to do honor to 
the dead and render service to the living. Here, on feast days 
of the dead, relatives could gather and partake of a commemo- 
rative meal ; but at all times the inviting seat and conspicuous 
statue served to maintain that friendly relation with the living, 
the desire for which so often finds expression in Roman epitaphs. 
The portrait and inscription made it seem as if Veins himself 
offered a friendly greeting to those that passed by, and was 
greeted by them in turn as they looked upon his face and read 
his name. 

The other bench (4) was evidently built by the heirs of a 
priestess, Mamia, upon a lot given by the city. The inscription 
appears in large letters on the back of the seat : Maniiae P. f. 
sacerdoti publicae ; locus sepultHr\^ac~\ datus decuriomun decreto, — 
' To the memory of Mamia, daughter of Publius Mamius, priest- 
ess of the city. Place of burial granted by order of the muni- 
cipal council.' In this instance, also, the cinerary urn was 
probably buried in the earth behind the bench. A certain deli- 
cacy in the modelHng of the lion's paws seems to indicate for 
this monument a somewhat later date than that of the monu- 
ment to Veins, — possibly the end of the reign of Augustus, or 
the reign of Tiberius. The date of erection is not given in the 
case of any Pompeian tomb. 

Between the two benches we see a lava base and the core of 
a superstructure ; they belong to the tomb of Marcus Porcius. 
The name is known from a boundary inscription which appears 
on two small blocks of lava at the corners of the lot in front : 
M. Porci M. f. ex dec. decret. in frontem ped. xxv, in agrnm ped. 
XXV, — '(Lot) of Marcus Porcius son of Marcus, granted by 
order of the city council ; twenty-five feet front, twenty-five 
feet deep.' 

This Porcius may have been one of the builders of the Small 
Theatre and the Amphitheatre, or a son of that Porcius, whose 
name appears on the altar of the temple of Apollo. The tomb 
was in the form of an altar ; the terminal volutes at the top, of 
travertine, have been preserved. The sides were of tufa blocks, 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 



411 



which may have been carried off for building purposes after the 
tomb was damaged by the earthquake of 63. The interior was 
made hollow to save expense ; there was no sepulchral chamber, 




Fig. 237. — The tomb of the Istacidii, restored. 

the ashes being placed in the earth under the monument. This 
tomb is the oldest of the group. 

The conspicuous monument of the Istacidii (4 a) stands behind 
the tombs of Mamia and Porcius, at the left of the Bay Road. 
It is raised upon a narrow terrace, enclosed by a balustrade of 



412 POMPEII 

masonry, and has the appearance of a temple, with half-columns 
at the sides. The remains of the lower story alone are seen in 
Fig. 236 ; above this was a circular structure formed by columns 
supporting a roof, under which were placed statues of members 
of the family (Fig. 237). The lower story contains a sepulchral 
chamber, entered by a door at the rear ; in the middle of the 
chamber is a massive pillar reaching to the vaulted ceiling. The 
decoration of the room is simple, of the third style. On one side 
is a large niche, for two urns, those of the head of the family 
and his wife ; the other three sides contain ten smaller niches. 

The principal inscription of the tomb has not been found, but 
a number of names are preserved on the commemorative stones 
set up in the plot of ground about it. These stones are of a 
peculiar type, met with elsewhere only at Capua and Sorrento ; 
we shall call them bust stones. The outline resembles that of 
a human head and neck terminating below in a pillar, but the 
front was left smooth, and an inscription was cut or painted on 
the bust. Difference of sex was indicated by the treatment of 
the hair ; an example may be seen in Fig. 240. The bust stones 
of men are generally larger than those of women ; those of chil- 
dren are still smaller, the size perhaps varying with the age. 

The bust stones here may refer to those whose ashes were 
deposited in urns in the tomb, or to others whose urns were 
buried in the plot of ground in which it stands. From them we 
learn that the head of the family was Numerius Istacidius, and 
that he had a daughter, Istacidia Rufilla, who was a priestess. 
Representatives of two other families, the Melissaei and the 
Buccii, are named on similar stones found in a plot connected 
with that of the Istacidii at the rear. The three families were 
perhaps closely connected by intermarriage. The bust stone 
of one of the Mehssaei, Gnaeus Melissaeus Aper, duumvir in 
3-4 A.D., stood in the same enclosure with those of the Istacidii. 

Only one of the nine tombs in the second group (2) bears a 
name. In the case of two (3 and 4) the superstructure has 
completely disappeared, leaving only the lava bases in place. 
Another (5) has not been excavated ; the front of the burial lot 
has been cleared, but the monument, lying further back, is still 
covered. 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 413 

The first tomb lies in the angle between the highway and the 
branch road along the wall, which was evidently laid out after 
the monument was erected. It has the form of an altar, and 
must have resembled in appearance the tomb of Porcius on the 
opposite side of the street. Here, however, there is a sepul- 
chral chamber in the base, entered by a low, narrow passage, 
which was closed until 1887 by a block of stone. In corners of 
this chamber two cinerary urns, in lead cases, were found 
covered with earth and with the remains of a funeral pyre — 
bits of wood and iron nails used in building the pyre, together 
with pieces of a richly carved ivory casket and broken perfume 
vials of terra cotta. Among the fragments of bone in each urn 
was a coin of Augustus. Though the ashes of the dead were 
here placed in a burial vault, it was nevertheless considered 
important to cover them with earth. It was not thought neces- 
sary, however, to leave the vault accessible for the performance 
of sacred rites in honor of the dead ; the entrance, securely 
closed, was only to be unsealed for the admission of new urns. 

The next tomb (2) is of an entirely different type from any of 
those previously described. It is an unroofed enclosure, entered 
by a door at one end. As we learn from the inscription, it was 
built in honor of Terentius Felix by his widow, the city furnish- 
ing the burial lot and a contribution of two thousand sesterces 
(about $90) toward the expense : T. Tcrentio T. f. Men. Felici 
maiori acdil\i\ ; Jinic publice locus daiiis et IfS 00 00. Fabia 
Probi f. Sabina uxor, — - ' To the memory of Titus Terentius 
Felix the Elder, son of Titus, of the tribe Menenia, aedile. The 
place of burial was given by the city, with two thousand ses- 
terces. His wife, Fabia Sabina, daughter of Fabius Probus 
(built this monument).' Pompeians who were Roman citizens 
were enrolled in the tribe Menenia. 

The cinerary urn of Felix was of glass. It was protected by 
a lead case and placed in an earthen jar, which was buried in 
the earth under a small altar or table of masonry against the 
wall on the left as one enters. Here also was a tombstone, 
with the inscription, ' To the elder Terentius ' ; he probably left 
a son with the same name. In the urn, or near it, were found 
two coins, one of Augustus, the -other of Claudius, deposited to 



414 POMPEII 

pay the fare of Charon. The right side of the enclosure was 
set off by a low wall ; here several urns belonging to other 
members of the household were buried. Shells of oysters and 
other shellfish -were found in the main room, remains of a 
banquet in honor of the dead ; the libations were poured upon 
the earth above the urns. The plan of this tomb closely re- 




Fig. 238. — View of the Street of Tombs. 
At the left, the Bay Road and remains of the so-called villa of Cicero ; at the right, Gar- 
land tomb, foundation of the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase, and semicircular niche. 

sembles that of the enclosure in front of the Doric temple in 
the Forum Triangulare (p. 139). 

Of the remaining tombs of the second group, two are promi- 
nent, and may readily be distinguished in the accompanying 
illustration (Fig. 238), the so-called Garland tomb (6 on the 
plan), and the roofed semicircular niche at the end (9). The 
Garland tomb has the shape of a temple, with pilasters instead 
of columns, between which hang festoons of leaves and flowers. 
It is solid ; the cinerary urn was probably placed underneath. 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 415 

The form of the second story cannot be determined. The ma- 
terial is tufa, coated with white stucco, and the monument is one 
of the oldest in the series, dating from the end of the Republic. 

Adjoining the Garland tomb is a simple sepulchral enclosure 
(7) with an entrance from the street. Between this and the 
roofed niche we see in Fig. 238 the limestone base of a tomb, 
like those seen in Plate X, at the right ; the altar-shaped 
superstructure has disappeared (8). This is called the tomb 
of the Blue Glass Vase. The base contains a sepulchral 
chamber, entered by a door at the rear. Here three urns, two 
of glass and one of terra cotta, were found, standing in niches. 
On the floor were several statuettes, a couple of small figures of 
animals, and a mask with a Phrygian cap, — all of terra cotta. 

In beauty of material, harmony of design, and skill of work- 
manship, one of the glass urns, which gave the name to the 
tomb and is now preserved in the Naples Museum, ranks with 
the finest examples of its class in the world. Among specimens 
of ancient glass it stands second only to the famous Portland 
vase in the British Museum, which was found in a tomb near 
Rome. The urn has the form of an amphora ; the support seen 
at the bottom (Fig. 239) is modern. It is decorated with reliefs 
cut in a layer of pure white on a background of dark blue. 
Near the bottom is a narrow band, showing goats and sheep in 
pasture. Resting on this are two bacchic masks, on opposite 
sides of the vase ; vines laden with clusters rise in graceful 
arabesques above the masks, dividing the body of the vase into 
two fields, which present scenes from the vintage. 

One of these scenes is reproduced in Fig. 239. The vintage 
is interpreted as a festival of Bacchus. Above is a festoon of 
fruits and flowers. At the sides are two boys on elevated seats, 
one playing the double flute, the other holding a Pan's pipe in 
his hands, ready to take his turn ; the grapes are gathered and 
pressed to an accompaniment of Bacchic airs, the two players 
following each other with alternate strains. A third boy, tread- 
ing the grapes in a round vat, shakes the thyrsus in honor of 
the Wine-god, while a companion empties in fresh bunches. 
The scene is full of action ; no reproduction can do justice to 
the delicacy and finish of the original. 



4i6 



POMPEII 



A bench of masonry runs along the inner wall of the semi- 
circular niche (9), which is covered by a roof in the form of a 




Fig. 239. — Glass vase with vintage scene, found in the tomb of the Bhie Glass Vase. 



half dome and opens upon the street as do the large unroofed 
monuments of Veius and Mamia. A blank marble tablet was 
placed in the gable ; the builder of the monument, who was 
doubtless living at the time of the eruption, preferred to leave it 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 



417 



to his heirs to add the memorial inscription, but the disaster 
interfered with the fulfilment of his wishes. It was probably 
intended to bury the cinerary urn either in the floor of the 
niche or in the ground at the rear. The effect of the double 
series of pilasters at the corners, placed one upon the other 
without an intervening entablature, and of the fantastic stucco 
decoration of the gable, is not unpleasing, although the designs 
are far from classical ; the tiles shown in the illustration are 
modern. The inner wall is painted in red and black panels ; 
the vaulted ceiling, from which the stucco has now fallen, was 
moulded to represent a shell. 

Both the niche and the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase seem to 
have belonged to the adjoining villa. The stucco decoration of 
the villa in its main features is identical with that of the niche ; 
and the plot of ground behind the tombs is connected by a gate- 
way with a garden of the villa (12 on the plan), which was too 
richly adorned to have been intended for the use of the occu- 
pants of the inn. In the middle of the garden was a pavilion 
supported by four mosaic columns (now in the Naples Museum), 
similar to that in the garden of the villa of Diomedes, and to 
others belonging to city houses. A mosaic fountain niche was 
made in the rear wall facing the entrance from the street, and 
in two corners were short columns on which were placed small 
figures, — on one a boy with a hare, in marble, on the other a 
frog of glazed terra cotta. 

Nevertheless, the garden seems to possess a distinctly sepul- 
chral character. Besides the entrances from the tombs and 
from the street, there was a third, which led into a court of 
the villa, with which the peristyle and living rooms were con- 
nected by a passageway ; in the corner of the court nearest the 
garden, and facing the entrance from the street (15), was an 
elaborate domestic shrine, dedicated, as shown by the symbolical 
decoration, to Apollo, Bacchus, Hercules, and Mercury. The 
relation of the garden with the living rooms -of the villa was 
only indirect ; and we conclude that it was intended for gather- 
ings and sacred rites in honor of the dead. Relatives could 
partake of the sepulchral banquet under the pavilion. 

The tombs of the third group, as may be seen from Plate X, 



41. 



POMPEII 



form a stately series. The prevailing type is that which was in 
vogue at the time of the destruction of the city — a high base, 
with marble steps at the top leading up to a massive super- 
structure in the form of an altar, faced with marble. The 
burial plot was enclosed by a low wall. In the base of the tomb 
was a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door in the rear or at 
one side ; it was now the custom for relatives to enter the burial 
vault when they wished to pour libations on the ashes. 

The first of the series (i6 on the plan, seen in Plate X next 
to the cypress) was unfinished at the time of the eruption. 
Part of the marble veneering had not yet been added, the walls 
of the sepulchral chamber were in the rough, and there were 
no urns in the five niches designed for their reception. In the 
burial plot surrounding the tomb, however, a marble bust 
stone was found (Fig. 240) with the inscription, Iinioni TycJics 

I^HSKmsi^^ Inliae Aitgustae Vencr\iae\ — 

Ilk Jllfl !B!k ' ^^ ^^ Genius of Tyche, slave 

I i ' !^^P of Julia Augusta, — of the cult 

J ^f ^g of Venus.' 

k^ f^- -^i) The reference is plainly to a 

female slave of Livia, the wife 
of Augustus ; how her ashes 
came to be deposited here it is 
not worth while, in default of 
information, to conjecture. In 
sepulchral inscriptions of women 
hmoiii sometimes takes the 
place of genio in men's epitaphs. 
Tyche was seemingly a member 
of a sisterhood for the worship of Venus, to which, as to the 
organization of the 'Servants of Mercury and Maia,' and of the 
' Servants of Fortuna Augusta,' slaves were admitted. 

The tomb of Umbricius Scaurus (17) is conspicuous by rea- 
son of its size and noteworthy on account of its decoration. 
The inscription on the front of the altar-shaped superstructure 
gives interesting details in regard to the man the memory of 
whom is here perpetuated: A. Uinbvicio A. f. Men. Scculvo, II 
vir i. d. ; Jiuic deciirioiies locum inonuin\_ento\ et US 0000 



1^ , ,,i|i 



P''Yi^>i\ 



VMM. 



Fig. 240. — Bust Stone of Tyche, slave of 
Julia Augusta. 




THE STREET OF TOMBS 419 

/// fniiere et statuam equestr\_ivi in f'\oro ponendani censiierunt. 
Scaiints pater Jilio, — ' To the memory of Aulus Umbricius 
Scaurus son of Aulus, of the tribe Menenia, duumvir with ju- 
diciary authority. The city council voted the place for a mon- 
ument to this man and two thousand sesterces toward the cost 
of the funeral ; they voted also that an equestrian statue in his 
honor should be set up in the Forum. Scaurus the father to 
the memory of his son.' 

Why these honors were conferred upon Scaurus, who prob- 
ably became a duumvir early in life and died soon after his 
term of office, is not clear. The upper part of the base of the 
tomb in front was adorned with stucco reliefs — now for the 
most part gone — in which gladiatorial combats and a venatio 
were depicted ; but a painted inscription along the edge of one 
of the scenes indicates that the show thus commemorated was 
given by another man, ^V. Fistius Ampliatus ; Munere [A^. Fis']ti 
Ampliati die siunuio. Perhaps the last two words mean that 
' on the last day ' the younger Scaurus, a relative or friend of 
Ampliatus, shared the cost of the exhibition under some such 
arrangement as that between Lucretius Valens and his son 
(p. 222). If this be the correct explanation, it is evident that 
Scaurus could have given no shows in the Amphitheatre during 
his duumvirate, else the father would have taken pains to men- 
tion the fact in the inscription. His term of office may have 
come after the year 59, when such exhibitions were prohibited at 
Pompeii for ten years (p. 220). 

The gladiatorial scenes, if space permitted, would merit a 
detailed presentation — they are so full of human interest. 
Two gladiators are fighting on horseback, the rest on foot. 
The vanquished with uplifted thumbs are mutely begging for 
mercy. The plea of some of them is heeded by the populace ; 
in other groups we see the victor preparing to give the death 
thrust. Beside each gladiator was painted his name, school, 
and number of previous combats, as in a programme ; and 
letters were added to give the result of this fight. One com- 
batant, who was beaten and yet by the vote of the audience 
permitted to live, died on the sand from his wounds. We see 
him resting on one knee, faint from loss of blood ; the letter M 



4 20 POMPEII 

beside his name, for missus, is followed by the death sign 0, the 
first letter of the Greek word for death, 0ANATOS. 

The animals shown in the venatio are mainly wild boars and 
bears, but we recognize also a lion and a bull. Lions were doubt- 
bss much more rarely seen in such exhibitions at Pompeii than 
at Rome. 

As more attention came to be given to the outward appear- 
ance of tombs, less was bestowed upon the adornment of the 
sepulchral chamber. So in the tomb of Scaurus the burial vault 
is low, cramped, and with plain white walls. A massive pillar, 
as in the tomb of the Istacidii, supports the vaulted ceiling. It 
is pierced by two openings, forming four niches, two on each 
side. Three of these, when the tomb was opened, were closed 
by panes of glass, and there were traces of a curtain that hung 
over the one opposite the entrance. There were fourteen other 
niches in the walls at the sides. 

No name is associated with the third tomb (i8 on the plan) 
which, as shown by Plate X, is simply a large cylinder of 
masonry, the top of which probably had the shape of a trun- 
cated cone ; the material is brick, with a facing of white stucco 
lined off to give the appearance of blocks of marble. The base 
is square ; the enclosing wall is adorned with miniature towers. 
The structure illustrates in its simplest form the type of the 
massive tomb, or mausoleum, found at Rome ; we are at once 
reminded of the imposing monument of Caecilia Metella on the 
Appian Way, and of Hadrian's Mausoleum in the city. 

A blank tablet was placed by the builder on the front of the 
enclosing wall to receive an inscription after his death. The 
heirs, however, preferred to put the memorial on the tomb itself, 
where the place of an inscription is plainly seen, the slab itself 
having disappeared. The sepulchral chamber is in the super- 
structure ; it was decorated with simple designs in the fourth 
style on a white ground. There were only three niches, per- 
haps for father, mother, and child ; the urns were let into the 
bottoms of the niches, as often in the Roman columbaria. 

One of the miniature towers on the enclosing wall is orna- 
mented with a relief presenting a singular design ; a woman in 
mourning habit is laying a fillet on a skeleton reclining on a 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 



421 



heap of stones (Fig. 241). The scene may be interpreted as 
symbolizing the grief of a mother for a dead son. 

There is only a simple bust stone in the burial lot (19) beyond 
the round monument. Next comes the beautiful tomb of Cal- 
ventius Quietus (20), which may be seen in Plate X, as well as 
the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche (22 ; further to the right). Be- 
tween these two is a walled enclosure (21) without a door, in 
which are three bust stones. The largest stone bears the name 
N. Istacidius Helenus ; in front of one of the others a small jar was 
set to receive offerings for the dead. On the front of the enclos- 
ing wall is a tablet on which the names of N. Istacidius Janua- 
rius and of Mesonia SatuUa appear with 
that of Helenus ; they were all freedmen 
of the Istacidii (p. 412). 

Tlie monuments of Quietus and of 
Tyche are the finest examples of the 
altar type at Pompeii. Both are orna- 
mented in good taste, but the carvings 
of the former are more delicate, while 
the motives of the latter are more elab- 
orate. Quietus was a man of some prom- 
inence, as we see from the epitaph : C. 
Calventio Quieto Aiigustali ; Jiitic ob 
i)uiiiificent\iam'\ deciirioiunn decreto et populi conse\_n'\su bisellii 
Jic7ior datus est, — ' To the memory of Gains Calventius Quietus, 
member of the Brotherhood of Augustus. On account of his 
generosity the honor of a seat of double width was conferred 
upon him by the vote of the city council and the approval of the 
people.' 

At the Theatre and the Amphitheatre, Quietus had the privi- 
lege of sitting on a biselHum, as if he were a member of 
the city council. Below the inscription is a representation of 
the ' seat of double width,' shown in Fig. 242. The square foot- 
stool at the middle impHes that the seat was intended for a single 
person. The ends of the- tomb were ornamented with finely 
carved reliefs of the civic crown, which was made of oak leaves 
and awarded to those who had saved the Hfe of a Roman citizen 
(Fig. 243). As the inscription does not record any deed of 




¥\g. 241. — Relief, symbolic of 
grief for the dead. 



422 



POMPEII 



valor, it may be that the crown is used here merely as a decora- 
tive device. 

Though the monument of Quietus was built in the last years 
of the city, when such structures were generally provided with 

sepulchral chambers, 
it has no burial vault, 
and the enclosing wall 
is without a door. It 
is perhaps a cenotaph, 
a monument erected 
in honor of a man 
whose remains were 
interred elsewhere ; it 
is also possible that 
Quietus had no rela- 
tives who wished to 
have an accessible se- 
pulchral chamber in 
order to make liba- 
tions to his ashes, and 
that for this reason 
the. monument was 
made solid, the urn 
being buried in the earth underneath. The small turrets on the 
enclosing wall were adorned with reliefs; among them Oedipus 
solving the riddle of the Sphinx, and Theseus after the slaugh- 
ter of the Minotaur. The suggestion is obvious : he who is com- 
memorated here had solved the riddle of existence, had found 
an exit from the labyrinth of life. 

Around the front and sides of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche 
runs a border of acanthus arabesques, forming panels in which 
reliefs are placed. The border in front is interrupted at the 
middle of the upper side by the portrait of Tyche ; the lower 
half of the panel is devoted to a ceremonial scene in which offer- 
ings appear to be made to the dead, while in the upper half, 
under the portrait, we read the inscription : Naevoleia L. lib- 
\^erta\ Tyche sibi et C. Mimatio Fausto Atig\^nstali'\ et pagano, 
ciii deciiriones consenstt popidi biselliiivi ob mei'ita eiits decreve- 




Fig. 242. — Front of the tomb of Calventius Quietus, 
with bisellium. 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 



423 



nmt. Hoc monimentum Naevoleia Tyche libertis sids liberta- 
busq\tie~\ et C. Miinati Faiisti viva fecit, — 'Naevoleia Tyche, 
freedwoman of Lucius Naevoleius, for herself and for Gaius 
Munatius Faustus, member of the Brotherhood of Augustus 
and suburban official, to whom on account of his distinguished 
services the city council, with the approval of the people, granted 
a seat of double width. This monument Naevoleia Tyche built in 




Fig. 243. — End of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche, with relief of a ship entering port ; 
beyond, end of the tomb of Calventius Quietus, with the civic crown. 



her lifetime also for the freedmen and freedwomen of herself and 
of Gaius Munatius Faustus,' who was seemingly her husband. 

The bisellium of Faustus is shown in one of the end panels ; 
in the other we see a ship sailing into port (Fig. 243). The carv- 
ing of the relief is bold, though crude ; we see the sailors furling 
the sail, as the vessel glides into still water. The scene is symbol- 
ical of death, — the entrance of the soul after the storms of life 
into a haven of rest. The thought is expressed by Cicero with 
deep feeling in his essay on Old Age : * As for myself, I find 



424 POMPEII 

the ripening of life truly agreeable ; the nearer I come to the 
time of death, the more I feel like one who begins to see land 
and knows that sometime he will enter the harbor after the long 
voyage.' 

The sepulchral chamber of this tomb has a large niche oppo- 
site the entrance ; the urn standing in it apparently contained 
the cinerary remains of two persons, Tyche and Faustus. Other 
urns were found in the smaller niches in the walls and on the 
bench of masonry along the sides. Three were of glass, pro- 
tected by lead cases ; one of them is shown in Fig. 244. They 
contained ashes and fragments of bone, with remains of a liquid 
mixture, which was shown by chemical analysis to have consisted 
of water, wine, and oil. Lamps were found on 
^^\ the bench, one for each urn, and there were 

j^^^^^ others in a corner ; they were used on anni- 
Ijg^^^ ^ liiiiiiiiill^ i versary days to light the chamber. 
I gJ^^^^m i The last monument consists of a w^alled en- 
^^^^^■i^^^ closure, with a table and couches of masonry 
g ^ I like those often found in the gardens of pri- 

^k ■ vate houses (Fig. 245). In front of the table 

^ PSv^x^ is a small round altar for libations. This was 

""""-^ a place for banquets in honor of the dead, /n- 

Fig. 244. — Cinerary . /- / «. i j • i ^ 4--U 

urn in lead case. cliimnu piucorc ; a tomb designed to serve the 
convenience of the living, like the niche of Cer- 
rinius Restitutus and the benches of Veins and Mamia. The 
walls were painted in the last style. 

Over the entrance in front we read : Cn. Vibrio Q. f. Fal. Sa- 
tiLvnino Callistus lib., — ' To the memory of Gnaeus Vibrius Sa- 
turninus son of Quintus, of the tribe Falerna ; erected by his 
freedman Callistus.' As Saturninus did not belong to the 
tribe Menenia, he was very likely not a native of Pompeii. 
His ashes were probably placed in an urn and buried in the 
earth between the altar and the entrance. 

There is every reason to suppose that the series of tombs 
on the south side of the highway is continued beyond the villa 
of Diomedes ; but it has not yet been found possible to carry 
the excavations further in that direction. 

The tombs of the fourth group present no new types of 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 



425 



design or construction. Several of them are of interest, how- 
ever, on account of peculiarities of arrangement. At the time 
of the eruption two of the monuments (33, 35) were in process 
of building ; it is impossible to tell what form they were to have. 
A third (^6) had been commenced on a large scale, but appar- 
ently the money of the heirs gave out, and little pyramids were 
set up at the corners of the walled enclosure, the urns being 
buried in the earth. 




Fig. 245. — Sepulchral enclosure with triclinium funebre. 



Two of the monuments were erected for children (40, 41). 
They stand near together on the high ground in the angle 
formed by the Vesuvius Road. They are small vaulted niches, 
ornamented with reliefs in white stucco, most of which has fallen 
off. The urn in each was placed in the earth under the bottom 
of the niche, with a small pipe tile leading to the surface, 
through which libations could be poured down upon it. A 
tablet is set in the sustaining wall at the side of the street below 
the larger niche (41), with the simple inscription, IV. Velasio 
Grato, vix[it\ aim. XII, — ' To the memory of Numerius Vela- 
sius Gratus, who lived twelve years.' The inscription belong- 



426 POMPEII 

ing to the other niche was even more simple, giving no first 
name : Salviiis puer vixit annis VI, — * The boy Salvius hved six 
years.' 

One tomb (34) is noteworthy on account of its door. This 
has the appearance of a double door, but it is made of a single 
slab of marble, and swings, like an ordinary Roman door, by 
means of pivots which are fitted into sockets in the threshold 
and lintel. It was also provided with a lock. The exterior 
of the tomb was unfinished ; the reticulate masonry still lacked 
its facing of more costly material. The sepulchral chamber, 
however, contained several cinerary urns ; one of them, of 
alabaster, was in a large niche facing the entrance, and a gold 
seal ring, with the figure of a deer in an intaglio, was found 
in it among the ashes and fragments of bone. There were 
also several lamps, a small altar of terra cotta, and a few glass 
perfume vials. Two amphorae, of the sort used for wine, stood 
against the sides of the chamber ; such were sometimes utilized 
as repositories for ashes. 

One of the volutes of the well preserved Hmestone tomb of 
M. Alleius Luccius Libella (37) is seen in Plate X. The monu- 
ment has the shape of an altar, and is apparently solid. It was 
erected by the widow, Alleia Decimilla, priestess of Ceres, in 
memory of her husband, who was duumvir in 26 a.d., and of 
a son of the same name, who was a member of the city council 
and died in his eighteenth year. The burial plot was given by 
the city. As no opening was left in the monument, Decimilla 
evidently planned to have her ashes deposited in another tomb, 
perhaps that of her father's family. 

The remaining four tombs are of the same type ; the idea is 
that of a temple, the columnar construction being suggested 
not by projecting half-columns, as in the tomb of the Istacidii, 
but by more or less prominent pilasters at the corners and on 
the sides. Two of the tombs (38 and 39) stand where the 
tongue of land between the highway and the Vesuvius Road 
begins to descend to the level of the pavement. 

The remains of the tomb of Ceius Labeo (38) are shown in 
Plate X (in the foreground, at the left). The appearance of 
this monument was somewhat like that of the Istacidii; there 



THE STREET OF TOMBS 427 

was a second story, the roof of which was supported entirely by 
columns ; between these, statues of members of the family were 
placed, of both men and women, some of marble, others of tufa 
coated with stucco. The base was ornamented with stucco 
reliefs, which have almost entirely disappeared ; above, in front, 
were two portrait medallions. 

The large sepulchral chamber can be seen in the plate. The 
iloor was more than six feet below the surface of the ground. 
A vaulted niche in the rear wall was connected with the outside 
by means of a small opening at the top, through which libations 
could be poured or offerings dropped upon the urn below. In 
the vicinity of the monument was found the inscription : L. Ceio 
L. f. Men. Labeoni iter\ttfn\ d. v. i. d. quinq\jtennali'\ Meno- 
machns l\ibertus\y — ' To the memory of Lucius Ceius Labeo son 
of Lucius, of the tribe Menenia, twice duumvir with judiciar}^ 
authority, also quinquennial duumvir ; erected by his freedman, 
Menomachus.' 

There were bust stones in the plot belonging to this monu- 
ment, and also about the adjoining tomb (39); the names of 
those whose ashes were deposited under the stones, in part, at 
least, seem to have been painted upon the base of Labeo's tomb, 
but they were illegible at the time of excavation. The adjoin- 
ing tomb (39) is without a name, but was built after that erected 
in honor of Labeo. 

The tombs at the end of the fourth group (42, 43) belong to 
one household. In the sustaining wall along the highway a 
sepulchral tablet of tufa is seen with the inscription : Arriae M. 
f. Diomedes l\_ibertiis'] sibi suis, — ' Diomedes, a freedman, for 
Arria, daughter of Marcus Arrius, for himself and for his 
family.' On the elevation directly above is his tomb, the end 
of which is seen in Plate X (in the foreground). It bears the 
inscription : M. Arrius D. I. Diomedes sibi suis memoriae , magis- 
ter pag\f\ AHg\jisti'\ Felic\is'\ subnrb\_ani'], — ' Marcus Arrius 
Diomedes, freedman of Arria, magistrate of the suburb Pagus 
Augustus Felix,- in memory of himself and his family.' 

The abbreviation D. 1. takes the place of Gaiae libertus, * freed- 
man of Gaia,' the letter C, which stands for Gains, being re- 
versed ; Gaia is used, as in legal formulas, to show that the 



428 POMPEII 

person referred to is a woman. The slave Diomedes, after re- 
ceiving his freedom, was entitled to the use of the family name, 
and was known as Marcus Arrius Diomedes. His mistress, as 
Roman ladies generally, was called not by a first name, but by 
the feminine form of the family name, Arria, which was as 
plainly suggested to a Roman reading the name Arrius followed 
by the symbol as if it had been written in full. 

On the front of the tomb we observe in stucco relief two 
bundles of rods, fasces, with axes, having reference to the official 
position of Diomedes as a magistrate of a suburb. The axes 
are quite out of place. Suburban officers did not have the 
* power of life and death ' ; the lictors of such magistrates carried 
bundles of rods without axes. The vain display of authority 
reminds one of the pompous petty official held up to ridicule 
by Horace in his Journey to Brundisium ; it suggests also the 
rods and axes painted on the posts at the entrance of the dining 
room of Trimalchio, in Petronius's novel. The tomb was con- 
structed without a burial vault, but there were two bust stones 
near by with names of freedmen of Diomedes. 

The monument to Arria (43) lies further back ; it fronts on 
the Vesuvius Road. Diomedes found a way to reconcile happily 
his own love of display with his duty to his former mistress ; he 
built a larger monument for her, but chose for his own the more 
conspicuous position. The small sepulchral chamber of Arria's 
tomb contained nothing of interest and is now walled up. 



CHAPTER LI 

BURIAL PLACES NEAR THE NO LA, STAB I AN, AND 
NOCERA GATES 

No part of the highway leading from the Nola Gate has yet 
been excavated. In the year 1854, however, excavations were 
made for a short distance along the city wall near this gate, and 
thirty-six cinerary urns were found buried in the earth. In or 
near them were perfume vials of terra cotta with a few of glass. 
Here in the pomeriurh, the strip of land along the outside of the 
walls, which was left vacant for religious as well as practical 
reasons, the poor were permitted to bury the ashes of their dead 
without cost. In some cases the place of the urn was indicated 
by a bust stone ; often the spot was kept in memory merely by 
cutting upon the outside of the city wall the name of the person 
whose ashes rested here. 

There w^as another cemetery of the poor a short distance 
southwest of the Amphitheatre, south of the modern highway. 
It lay along a road which branched off from the highway lead- 
ing to Stabiae and ran east in the direction of Nocera. Sepul- 
chral remains were found here in 1755-57, and again in 1893-94, 
when further explorations were made. They consist of cinerary 
urns, buried in the earth, with small glass perfume vials in or 
near them, and a bust stone to mark the spot. A few of the 
stones are of marble and bear a name ; the great majority are 
roughly carved out of blocks of lava, and if a name was painted 
on the front it has disappeared. 

Of special significance, in connection with these burial places, 
is the arrangement for making offerings to the dead. In order 
that libations might be poured directly upon the cinerary urns, 
these were connected with the surface of the ground by means 
of tubes. In one instance a lead pipe ran from above into an 
opening made for it in the top of the lead case inclosing an urn. 

429 



430 POMPEII 

More often the connection was made by means of round tiles; 
in the case of one urn, three tiles were joined together, making a 
tube five feet long. The upper end of the libation tube did not 
project from the ground, but was placed just below the surface 
and covered with a flat stone ; over this was a thin layer of 
earth, which the relatives would remove on the feast days of the 
dead. Pagan antiquity was never able to dissociate the spirit of 
the dead from the place of interment ; the worship of ancestors 
was in no small degree the product of local associations. 

In the vicinity of these remains is a sepulchral monument of 
modest dimensions, which, as we learn from the tablet over the 
entrance, was erected by Marcus Petasius Dasius in memory of 
his two sons, Severus and Communis, and of a freedwoman 
named VitaHs. There was no floor in the burial chamber; 
the urns were placed in the earth and marked by bust stones, 
among which was one set up for Dasius himself, with the 
initials M. P. D. 

The Stabian Road has been excavated for but a short distance 
near the gate. The only monuments completely cleared are two 
large, semicircular benches, like those of Veins and Mamia 
(p. 409). At the rear of each is a small sepulchral enclosure in 
which the urns were buried. The memorial tablet belonging 
to the monument nearest the gate has disappeared, but two 
boundary stones at the corners of the lot bear the inscription : 
M. Tidlio M. f. ex d\ecjirioitum'\ d\ecreto\ — 'To Marcus Tullius 
son of Marcus, in accordance with a vote of the city council.' 
The Tullius named was perhaps the builder of the temple of 
Fortuna Augusta (p. 132). 

The inscription of the second bench, like that of Mamia, is 
cut in large letters on the back of the seat: J\L Alicia Q. f. 
Men. MtJiiOy II v. i. d.; locus sepiiltiirac pitblice datits ex d. d.y — 
'To the memory of Marcus Alleius Minius son of Marcus, of 
the tribe Menenia, duumvir with judiciary authority. The place 
of burial was given in the name of the city by vote of the munic- 
ipal council.' 

A third bench, close to the second, lies under a modern house 
and has not been uncovered. Further from the gate a rectan- 
gular seat, probably belonging to the same series of monuments, 



BURIAL PLACES 



431 



was discovered in 1854; it was built in memory of a certain 
Clovatius, duumvir, as shown by a fragment of an inscription 
that came to light at the same time. From still another 
tomb are reliefs with gladiatorial combats, now in the Naples 
Museum. 

With the exception of those near the Herculaneum Gate, the 
most important tombs yet discovered at Pompeii are in a group 
beyond the Amphitheatre, excavated in i886-8y. They are six 
in number, and lie close together on both sides of a road which 
ran east from the Nocera Gate, bending slightly to the north 
(Fig. 246). This road was not in use in the last years of the 
city ; the stones of the pavement and sidewalk had been re- 
moved. The monuments, however, were large and stately, 
erected by people of means, and the ruins are characteristic and 
impressive. The tombs were built of common materials, stucco 
being used on exposed surfaces instead of marble. The sim- 
plicity of construction, and the shapes of the letters in the elec- 
tion notices and other inscriptions painted on them, suggest a 
relatively early date, which is confirmed by the age of the coins 
found in the urns ; the 
monuments belong to the 
early decades of the Em- 
pire. 

The first tomb at the 
right (No. I on the plan) 
was built in the form of 
a commemorative arch, 
with pilasters at the cor- 
ners. Above was a low 
cylinder surmounted by 
a truncated cone, on which 
stood a terminal member 
in the shape of a pine cone, 
found near by. The cine- 
rary urn was buried in the 
earth below an opening in 

the floor of the passage under the arch (shown in the plan). No 
name appears in connection with this monument. 





.1 1:1 a- 



/Q.n» 



Fig. 246. 



Plan of the tombs east of the Amphi- 
theatre. 



432 



POMPEII 



Another monument of the arch type, that of Mancius Diog- 
enes, is seen on the opposite side of the street (5 ; Fig. 248). 
The structure is shallow, the vaulted opening low. On the top 
of the arch were three niches, in which stood three travertine 
statues; two of these, both of women, have been preserved, 
and are of indifferent workmanship. A marble tablet was 
placed in front, over the vault, with the inscription, P. Mancio 
P. l\iberto\ Diogeiii ex testaincnto arbitratu Mauciac P. l\ibertae\ 




Fig. 247. — View of two tombs east of the Amphitheatre. 
That at the left is No. 3 on the plan ; the next is No. 4. 



Doriiiis, — 'To the memory of Publius Mancius Diogenes, freed- 
man of Publius Mancius ; (the monument was erected) in accord- 
ance with the terms of his will, under the direction of Mancia 
Doris, freedwoman of Publius Mancius.' 

There is a curious ambiguity in this inscription ; we cannot 
tell whether Doris, seemingly the wife of Diogenes, was manu- 
mitted by the Publius Mancius who gave him his freedom, or 
by Diogenes himself after he had gained his freedom and 
was entitled to use the name Publius Mancius. Four bust 
stones stood in front of the tomb and two at the rear. 



BURIAL PLACES 433 

arranged as indicated on the plan; those in front are seen in 
our illustration. 

The tomb at the left of that just described (4 ; Fig. 247) is of 
interest as showing the result of an attempt to blend the arch 
type with that of the temple. A passage roofed with a flat 
vault runs through the middle of the first story. The second 
story had the appearance of a diminutive temple with four 
Corinthian columns in front. The niche representing the cella 
was of the full width of the tomb, and occupied two thirds of 
the depth ; the other third was given to the portico. Four 
statues of tufa coated with stucco that were found here proba- 
bly stood under the portico or in the intercolumniations, where 
they would best be seen from below ; three were statues of men, 
the fourth of a woman. 

The arrangement of the five bust stones in the vaulted pas- 
sage is indicated on the plan. The three nearest the street 
entrance bear the name of a freedman, L. Caesiics L. I. Loo-ns, 
— 'Lucius Caesius Logus, freedman of Lucius Caesius,' and of 
Titia Vesbina and Titia Optata, both evidently freedwomen 
manumitted ' by a lady named Titia. We are probably safe in 
assuming that the two inmost stones, without names, are those 
of Caesius and Titia, husband and wife, who gave Logus, 
Vesbina, and Optata their freedom, and built the monument. 
It was not necessary to place the names of the builders upon 
the commemorative stones, because they were doubtless given 
in the memorial tablet in front, which has disappeared. Coins 
of Augustus and Tiberius were found in the urns. 

One tomb (2) has the form of a niche, resembling those of 
the two children near the end of the Street of Tombs (p. 425), 
but larger and more costly than they. The corners are em- 
bellished with three-quarter columns, which have Doric flutings 
and composite capitals. On the walls at the entrance we see, 
modelled in stucco, doorposts with double doors swung back. 
Two marble bust stones, the places of which are indicated on 
the plan, show where the urns of the two most important mem- 
bers of the family, Apuleius and his wife Veia, were buried : 
their names doubtless appeared in an inscription on the front 
of the monument. In one of the urns was found a coin of 



434 



POMPEII 



Tiberius of the year lo a.d. The other was enclosed in a lead 
case, and a lead libation tube was extended from the ashes 
through both covers to the surface. 

The names of Apuleius and Veia are obtained from two other 
bust stones, in front of the niche. One reads, Festae Aptilei 
f{iliae\ vix\jf\ anii[os'\ XVII, — * To the memory of Festa, 
daughter of Apuleius, who lived seventeen years.' The other 




Fig. 248. — Two other tombs east of the Amphitheatre. 
Nos. 5, 6 on the plan. 

has simply \^C^onviva Veiaes vix an. XX, — * Conviva, slave of 
Veia, lived twenty years.' An as of the time of the Republic 
was found in the urn of Conviva ; and a square tile, the upper 
end of which was closed by a piece of marble, served as a liba- 
tion tube for the urn of Festa. 

The two remaining tombs are of the temple type, one (3 ; 
Fig. 247) having pilasters at the corners, the other half-columns 
at the corners and on the sides (6). The first has a vaulted 
sepulchral chamber, entered from the rear. On the inside of 
the wall next the street are three low niches, the top of which 
is nearly on a level with the sidewalk ; each of them con- 



BURIAL PLACES 



435 



tained an urn. Directly over the inner niches, in the outside 
of the wall and opening toward the street, are three other 
niches, shown in the illustration, in the bottom of which were 
Ubation tubes leading to the urns below. Relatives could 
thus pour their offerings of wine or oil upon the urns with- 
out entering the sepulchral chamber. Lava bust stones were 
placed against the back of the outer niches. The hair on 
one of them is treated in a manner to indicate that a woman 
is represented. The entrance of the tomb was closed by a 
large block of lava. On account of the arrangement for offer- 
ing libations from the outside, it was not necessary to make 
the burial vault easy of access. 

The entrance to the other tomb (6 ; Fig. 248) was in front, 
and closed by a door of hmestone. It led, not to a sepulchral 
chamber, but to a stairway by which one ascended to the second 
story. Here statues were placed, but the exact form of the 
upper part cannot be determined. The finding of five tufa 
capitals suggests that the second story may have been a colum- 
nar structure, like that of the tomb of the Istacidii; when the 
excavations are carried further east enough other fragments 
will perhaps be found to make a complete restoration possible. 
One of the statues is of a man holding a roll of papyrus in his 
hand, with a round manuscript case, scrinhim^ at his feet. 

Among the inscriptions painted on these tombs were two, 
relating to gladiatorial combats, which have already been men- 
tioned (p. 221). One of the election notices, oddly enough, 
refers to a candidate for an office in Nuceria : L. Munatiiim 
CaesciiiimLin Nuceriae II vir. quinq. v. b. 0. v. f. (for duuvivirum 
qtimqucnrialem^ viimm boiimn, oro vos, facite\ — ' Make Lucius 
Caeserninus quinquennial duumvir of Nuceria, I beg of you, 
he's a good man.' As long as the relations of the Pompeians 
and Nucerians were friendly, the highway between the two 
towns was doubtless much travelled by the citizens of both 
places. 

If the visitor pauses to think of the religious feeling which 
the ancients manifested generally in relation to their burial 
places, it gives somewhat of a shock to see notices even of a 
semi-public character painted in bright red letters upon tombs. 



436 POMPEII 

All such inscriptions, however, are surpassed in ludicrous incon- 
gruity with the purpose of the monument by the following 
advertisement regarding a stray horse : Eqiia siquei aberavit 
cum semuncis honerata a. d. VII Kal. Septembres (corrected into 
Deceinbres), convenito Q. Deciu\in\ Q. I. Hilarnui . , . L. l. . . . 
chioncm^ citra ponteni Sanii fitndo Mamiano, — ' If anybody lost 
a mare with a small pack-saddle, November 25, let him come and 
see Quintus Decius Hilarus, freedman of Quintus Decius, or . . . 
(the name is illegible), freedman of Lucius, on the estate of the 
Mamii, this side of the bridge over the Sarno.' The two freed- 
men were very likely in partnership, working a farm belonging 
to the family, one representative of which we have already met, 
Mamia the priestess (p. 410). 

A more serious desecration of burial places, after offerings to 
the dead ceased to be made by relatives, or a family became 
extinct, was probably not uncommon. Different families had 
different gods, and those of one household were quite inde- 
pendent of those of another. Ordinarily a man had no reason 
to fear or respect the gods of his neighbor ; notwithstanding 
the associations of worship connected with tombs, the general 
feeling toward them was very different from that manifested 
toward temples, where local divinities or the great gods were 
worshipped. The most stringent regulations of the emperors 
could not prevent the ransacking of the tombs about Rome for 
objects of value, and the removal of their materials of construc- 
tion for building purposes. The superstructure of two of the 
monuments near the Herculaneum Gate had disappeared appar- 
ently before the destruction of the city, and of the tomb of 
Porcius only the core remained. 



PART V 

POMPEIAN ART 

CHAPTER LII 

ARCHITECTURE 

In the preceding pages the principal buildings of Pompeii 
have been described, and reference has been made to many 
works of art. We shall now offer a few observations of a more 
general nature in regard to the remains of architecture, sculp- 
ture, and painting. 

The different periods in the architectural history of the city 
have been defined in a previous chapter. The most significant 
of these, from every point of view, is that which we have called 
the Tufa Period, which corresponds roughly with the second 
century B.C. Its importance is chiefly due to the fact that it 
records for us a phase of architectural development, a style, of 
which only slight traces are found elsewhere, — in the East. It 
is the last offshoot of untrammelled Hellenistic art in the field of 
construction ; the architecture of the following period was still 
derived from Hellenistic sources, but was dominated by Roman 
conceptions, and received from Rome the impulse that deter- 
mined the direction of its development. The remains of the 
Tufa Period at Pompeii furnish materials for a missing chapter 
in the history of architecture. 

As we have seen, the stone preferred in this period for all 
purposes was the gray tufa. Where used for columns, pilasters, 
and entablatures, it was covered with stucco ; in plain walls it 
appeared in its natural color. Unfortunately, the covering of 
stucco is preserved in only a few cases ; the best example is pre- 
sented by an Ionic capital in the first peristyle of the house of the 
Faun. The stucco was generally white, but color was sometimes 

437 



438 POMPEII 

employed, as in the Corinthian columns and pilasters of the 
exedra in the same house, which are painted a deep wine red. 

No other period of Pompeian art shows in an equal degree 
the impress of a single characteristic and self-consistent style, 
alike in public buildings, temples, and private houses, in the 
interior decoration as well as in the treatment of exteriors. 
The wall decoration of the first style is simply the adaptation 
of tufa construction to decorative use. The motives are identi- 
cal. The forms are the same, but these naturally appear in a 
freer handling upon interior walls, the effect being heightened 
by the use or imitation of slabs of marble of various colors. 

This style throughout gives the impression of roominess and 
largeness. It is monumental, especially when viewed in con- 
trast with the later architecture of Pompeii. No building erected 
after the city became a Roman colony can be compared, for 
ample dimensions and spatial effects, with the Basilica. In the 
same class are the temples of Jupiter and Apollo, with the im- 
pressive two-storied colonnades enclosing the areas on which 
they stand ; the contrast with the later temples, as those of 
Fortuna Augusta and Vespasian, is striking. All the more im- 
portant houses of this period are monumental in design and pro- 
portions, with imposing entrances, large and lofty atriums, and 
high doors opening upon the atrium ; the shops in front also 
were high, and in two stories. 

In point of detail, the architecture of the Tufa Period reveals 
less of strength and symmetry than its stately proportions and 
modest material would lead us to expect. The ornamentation 
is a debased descendant of the Greek. It is characterized by 
superficial elegance, together with an apparent striving after 
simplicity and an ill-concealed poverty of form and color. 
Though the ornamental forms still manifest fine Greek feeling, 
they lack delicacy of modelling and vigor of expression. They 
are taken from Greek religious architecture, but all appreciation 
of the three orders as distinct types, each suited for a different 
environment, has disappeared. In consequence, we often find 
a mixture of the orders, a blending of Doric, Ionic, and Corin- 
thian elements ; and still more frequently do we meet with a 
marked departure from the original proportions. 



ARCHITECTURE 



439 




Big 249 



Poui faced Ionic capital. 
Forum Triangulare. 



Portico of the 



Thus in the court of the temple of Apollo and in the first 
peristyle of the house of the Faun we see Ionic columns sup- 
porting a Doric entablature ; in the house of the Black Wall, 
Doric columns with an Ionic entablature. The Doric architrave, 
contrary to rule, ap- 
pears divided into two 
stripes, not only in the 
colonnade of the Fo- 
rum, where the stripes 
represent a difference 
of material, but also in 
the house of the Faun, 
where the architrave is 
represented as com- 
posed of single blocks 
reaching from column 
to column (p. 51). In 
the Palaestra (p. 165), and in many private houses, the Doric 
column was lengthened, in a way quite out of harmony with the 
original conception, in order to make it conform to the prevail- 
ing desire for height and slender proportions. The shaft no- 
where appears with the pronounced entasis and strong diminu- 
tion characteristic of the type, and the capital has lost the breadth 
and graceful outline of the Greek Doric. 

The Ionic columns in the cella of the temple of Jupiter (p. 
65) are of the Greek type, with volutes on two sides ; elsewhere 

we find only the so-called Roman Ionic, 
with four volutes, a type that appears in 
several well defined and pleasing exam- 
ples. One of these, a capital from the 
portico at the entrance of the Forum 
Triangulare, is shown in Fig. 249. The 
deep incisions of the egg-and-dart pat- 
tern, which give the egg almost the 
appearance of a little ball, is character- 
istic ; it is found only at Pompeii, and there not after the Tufa 
Period. A still freer handling of the Ionic is seen in the capital 
of a pilaster in the casa del duca d'Aumale (Fig. 250). 



'^s!J^im^^^>!^^^i^^Jl^X^'-^[^9LJJiif^^ 




Fig. 250. — Capital of pilaster. 
Casa del duca d'Aumale. 



440 



POMPEII 



The Corinthian capital appears in the usual forms, but the 
projecting parts are shallow, on account of the lack of resisting 
qualities in the stone. The best examples are the capitals of the 
columns and pilasters of the exedra in the house of the Faun. 
The workmanship here is fine, the realistic treatment of the 
acanthus leaves being especially noteworthy. An interesting 
series of variations from the normal type is seen in the capitals 
of the pilasters at house entrances ; we have already met with 
a striking example of this series, ornamented with projecting 
busts of human figures (Fig. 178). The design is often so fantas- 



i|i|i|iiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiii£iiS 




tig. 251. — Altcir in ihc court ot the temple of Zeus Milichius. 



tic that the essential character of the Corinthian capital seems 
entirely lost sight of. 

The entablatures of the temples built in the Tufa Period, as 
of those erected in later times, have all perished. The entabla- 
tures of the colonnades, however, are at least in part well pre- 
served in a number of instances, and are of two types, the 
Doric, characterized by the use of triglyphs, and the Ionic, dis- 
tinguished by the dentils of the cornice. 

Both types are found also in the wall decoration, the first 
rarely, the second very frequently. On the altar of the temple 
of Zeus MiUchius, which is of tufa coated with stucco, the Doric 
entablature appears in association with the characteristic dec- 
oration of the first style, the imitation of large blocks of marble ; 
on the top are terminal volutes of Ionic origin, as generally 



ARCHITECTURE 441 

upon Roman altars and altar-shaped tombs (Fig. 251). On 
walls decorated in the first style, however, only Ionic entabla- 
tures are seen, — sometimes even twice upon the same wall, as 
in the example shown in Fig. 122. From this we infer that in 
the temple construction of the Tufa Period, the simple and 
elegant Ionic entablature was the prevailing type. 

Notwithstanding its free adaption of Greek forms, the Tufa 
Period availed itself very sparingly of polychrome decoration 
for architectural members. The stucco of the Ionic capital in 
the house of the Faun is white ; white likewise are most of the 
capitals of pilasters found in the houses, and also the numerous 
Ionic cornices on the walls. 

There are, nevertheless, scanty traces of the apphcation of 
color. In the wall decoration of the house of Sallust we find a 
Doric frieze with the metopes painted red. The frieze under 
the Ionic cornices on the walls also is usually made prominent 
with color, — red, yellow, or blue ; and a red frieze is seen in 
the peristyle of the house of the Black Wall, above the pilas- 
ters of the garden wall. The lower stripe of the painted archi- 
trave in the house of the Faun, already referred to, is yellow. 

It seems probable that in some cases color was applied to the 
projecting figures of the peculiar capitals used in houses ; at 
the time of excavation, traces of coloring were distinctly seen 
upon those belonging to the alaeof the house of Epidius Rufus 
(p. 309). The exposed capitals at the entrances (Fig. 178), if 
originally painted, would naturally have lost all traces of the 
coloring before the destruction of the city, unless it were from 
time to time renewed. Notv/ithstanding these exceptions, we 
must conclude that the stucco coating upon pubUc buildings and 
temples was generally white, in the case of capitals and cornices 
as well as of the shafts of columns and outside walls ; colors 
were used to a limited extent, upon friezes and perhaps other 
parts of entablatures. 

The architectural remains of the half century immediately 
succeeding the Tufa Period, between the founding of the Roman 
colony at Pompeii and the establishment of the Empire, present 
nothing specially characteristic outside of the peculiarities of 
construction mentioned in chap. 6. 



442 



POMPEII 



In the earlier years of the Empire, the Pompeians, as Roman 
subjects everywhere, commenced to build temples and colon- 
nades of marble. The style, which was distinctively Roman, can 
be studied to better advantage elsewhere ; the remains at Pom- 
peii are relatively unimportant, and the chief points of interest 
have been mentioned in connection with our study of individual 
buildings. 

The stylistic development of Roman architecture in the next 
period, — the gradual transition from the simplicity of the Au- 
gustan Age to the more elaborate ornamentation of the Flavian 
Era, — is marked by two opposing tendencies, one conservative, 
holding to the traditions of marble construction, the other re- 






Fig. 252. — Capitals of columns, showing variations from typical forms. 
A. Ornate Doric, from the house of Sallust. B. Modified Corinthian. C. Fantastic Corinthian. 



actionary. The latter tendency manifests itself so strongly at 
Pompeii that it merits special comment. 

First in the East, it appears, men wearied of seeing the orna- 
mental forms of the Greek religious architecture repeated over 
and over again in every kind of building, and attempted to 
break away from them entirely. The reaction reached Italy in 
the earlier years of the Empire, and began to exert an influence 
upon ornamental forms, especially of domestic architecture, at 
the time when the third style of wall decoration was coming 
into vogue. 

At Pompeii, this revolt from tradition affected not only the 
ornamentation of private houses, but also that of public build- 
ings, as the Stabian Baths, and even of temples, as those of 
Apollo and Isis, rebuilt after the earthquake of the year 63. 



ARCHITECTURE 



443 



Greek forms were replaced by fantastic designs of every sort, 
worked in stucco. The capitals of columns and pilasters re- 
tained a semblance of Doric and Corinthian types, but were 
adorned with motives from many sources ; the variety of form 
and treatment can best be appreciated 
by inspecting the examples shown in 
our illustrations (Figs. 242, 253, 254). 

The entablatures no longer retained 
the ancient division of architrave, frieze, 
and cornice, but were made to represent 
a single broad stripe, sometimes, how- 
ever, with a projecting cornice; this 
stripe was ornamented with stucco re- 
liefs, and was frequently painted in 
bright colors. Sometimes the decora- 
tive theme is taken from a vine, as in the entablature of the 
portico in front of the temple of Isis (Fig. 80) and that of the 
peristyle of the house of the Vettii (Fig. 161). In some cases 
the stripe is divided into vertical sections ; the broad sections cor- 
respond with the intercolumniations, the narrow ones with the 




Fig. 253. — Capital of pilaster, 
modified Corinthian type. 






Fig. 254. — Capitals of pilasters, showing free adaptations of the Corinthian type. 



spaces above the columns ; and the ornamental design is varied 
accordingly, as in the palaestra of the Stabian Baths (p. 198), 
the court of the temple of Apollo (Fig. 31), and the peristyle 
of the house of the Silver Wedding. In many instances the 
background is white, frequently part of the details of ornament 
as well ; but colors were freely used, particularly red, blue, and 
yellow, in all parts of the entablature. 

The lower third of the columns also was painted a bright red 
or yellow — a treatment that would have been abhorrent to the 



444 POMPEII 

taste of the Tufa Period. The desire for variety and brilliancy 
of color increased, and was more pronounced in the years im- 
mediately preceding the eruption than at any previous time. 

Consistently with this change in the standard of taste in re- 
gard to details, the Pompeians no longer had pleasure in the 
ample dimensions of the olden time. Houses were not now 
built with high rooms, great doorways, and lofty columns as 
in the Tufa Period. The rooms were smaller and lower, and 
also, we may add, more homelike. But curiously enough, the 
columns were often made thick as well as short, doubtless 
in order to afford more space for the display of color on the 
capitals and the lower part of the shaft. 

Roman public and religious architecture in most cities still 
adhered to the forms of marble construction, a suggestion of 
which we find in the white walls of the temple of Isis ; but the 
lower third of the columns in the colonnade about this temple 
was painted red, and the entablature was no doubt ornamented 
with colored designs, as was that of the temple of Apollo. The 
best preserved example of this last phase of Pompeian architec- 
tural ornamentation is in the semicircular vaulted niche at the 
right of the Street of Tombs. 

Thus we see accomplished at Pompeii, in less than two cen- 
turies, a complete revolution in matters of taste, so far as relates 
to architecture. An entirely new feeling has been developed. 
The beauty of contour and of symmetrical proportion found in 
the Greek architecture had no charm for the Pompeian of the 
later time ; its place had been usurped by a different form of 
beauty, that produced by the use of a variety of brilliant colors in 
association with forais that were intricate, and often grotesque. 




PLATE XI.— ARTEMIS. COPY OF AN ARCHAIC WORK 



CHAPTER LIII 

SCULPTURE 

The open squares and public buildings of Pompeii were 
peopled with statues. The visitor who walked about the Forum 
in the years immediately preceding the eruption, saw on all 
sides the forms of the men of past generations who had ren- 
dered service to the city, as well as those of men of his own 
time. 

Besides the five colossal images of emperors and members of 
the imperial families, places were provided in the Forum for 
between seventy and eighty life size equestrian statues ; and 
behind each of these was room for a standing figure. Whether 
all the places were occupied cannot now be determined, but 
from the sepulchral inscription of Umbricius Scaurus (p. 418) it 
is clear that as late as the time of Claudius or Nero, there was 
yet room for another equestrian figure. Statues were placed 
also in the Forum Triangulare and occasionally at the sides of 
the streets. 

In the portico of the Macellum were twenty-five statues ; the 
sanctuary of the City Lares contained eight, while the portico 
of the Eumachia building furnished places for twenty-one. But 
only one of the hundreds of statues erected in honor of worthy 
citizens has been preserved, that of Holconius Rufus, the re- 
builder of the Large Theatre ; the figure was dressed in the uni- 
form of a military tribune, and stood on Abbondanza Street 
near the Stabian Baths. With this should be classed the por- 
trait statues in the temple of Fortuna (p. 131), and those of 
Octavia (Fig. 38), Marcellus (Fig. 39), and Eumachia. 

The statue of Eumachia is an interesting example of the 
ordinary portrait sculpture of the Early Empire (Fig. 255). 
The pose is by no means ungraceful, the treatment of the 
drapery is modest and effective. The tranquil and thoughtful 

445 



446 



POMPEII 



face is somewhat idealized, and without offensive emphasis of 
details. The statue is not a masterpiece ; nevertheless, it gives 
us a pleasant impression of the lady whose generosity placed 

the fullers under obhga- 
tion, and affords an in- 
sight into the artistic 
resources of the city. 

A number of portrait 
statues belonging to se- 
pulchral monuments were 
found when the tombs 
east of the Amphitheatre 
were excavated ( Chap. 5 1 ). 
Most of them are of tufa 
covered with stucco ; the 
rest are of fine-grained 
limestone. From the aes- 
thetic point of view they 
are valueless. 

Sculptured portraits of 
a different type were set 
up in private houses. Rel- 
atives, freedmen, and even 
slaves sometimes placed 
at the rear of the atrium, 
near the entrance of the 
tablinum, a herm of the 
master of the house. At 
each side of the square 
pillar supporting the bust, 
there was usually an arm- 
like projection (seen on 
the herm of Cornelius Rufus, Fig. 121), on which garlands were 
hung upon birthdays and other anniversary occasions. Both the 
herm of Rufus and that of Vesonius Primus previously mentioned 
(p. 396) are of marble ; the head belonging to the herm of Sorex 
(p. 176) is of bronze. 

The most striking of the portrait herms is that of Lucius 




Fig. 255. — Statue of the priestess Eumachia. 



SCULPTURE 



447 




Caecilius Jucundns (Fig. 256), which was set up in duplicate, for 
the sake of symmetrical arrangement, in the atrium of his house 
on Stabian Street. The pillar is of marble ; the dedication reads 
Genio L\jtcii\ nostri Felix 
l\ibertus\ — ' Felix, f reed- 
man, to the Genius of our Lu- 
cius.' 

The bust, of bronze, is mod- 
elled with realistic vigor. 
There is no attempt to soften 
the prominent and almost re- 
pulsive features by idealiza- 
tion. We see the Pompeian 
auctioneer just as he was, a 
shrewd, alert, energetic man, 
with somewhat of a taste for 
art, and more for the good 
things of Hf e, — a man who 
would bear watching in a 
financial transaction. 

Houses were adorned also 
with heads and busts of fa- 
mous men of the past, — poets, 
philosophers, and statesmen. 
An extensive collection of his- 
torical portraits was discov- 
ered at Herculaneum, but 
Pompeii thus far has not 
yielded many examples. In 
a room in one of the houses 

was found a group of three Fig. 256.— Portrait herm of Caeciliusjucundus 

marble heads, about one half 

life size, representing Epicurus, Demosthenes, and apparently 
the Alexandrian poet Callimachus, whose works were particularly 
valued in the time of the Early Empire. The identification of the 
third head is not certain, but whether Callimachus or some other 
poet is intended, the group reveals the direction of the owner's lit- 
erary tastes ; he was interested in philosophy, oratory, and poetry. 



^ 



448 



POMPEII 



Two portrait busts of distinguished men, which evidently 
belong together, were found in another house, laid one side. 
In the Naples Museum they bore the names of the Younger Bru- 
tus and Pompey, but both identifications are erroneous ; the fea- 
tures in neither case agree with the representations upon coins. 
The faces, as shown by the physiognomy and the treatment of 
the hair, are those of Romans of the end of the Republic or the 
beginning of the Empire. Recently a new identification has 

been proposed which has much 
in its favor. It rests chiefly 
upon the resemblance of one 
of the busts to the mosaic por- 
trait of Virgil, discovered in 
1896 at Susa, in Africa. The 
full, round face of the other 
agrees very well with what we 
know of the appearance of 
Horace. It may be that we 
have here a pair of poets, the 
two most prominent of the Au- 
gustan Age. 

Frequently the gardens of 
the peristyles, as those of the 
houses of the Vettii and of Lu- 
cretius, were profusely adorned 
with sculptures of all kinds. 
We find in them statuettes, 
herms, small figures of animals, 
and diminutive groups. Fig- 
ures derived from the myths of the bacchic cycle, Bacchus, 
Silenus, satyrs, and bacchantes, are particularly common. The 
artistic value is slight ; among the best examples is the double 
bust, with Bacchus on one side and a bacchante on the other, 
found in the garden of the house of the Vettii (Fig. 257). 

Characteristic among these sculptures are the figures designed 
for the adornment of fountains ; a number of them are exhibited 
in the Museum at Naples. Bacchic figures are met with most 
frequently. A good example is the marble Silenus in the garden 




Fig. 257. — Double bust, Bacchus and bac- 
chante. Garden of the house of the Vettii. 



SCULPTURE 449 

of the house of Lucretius ; the water spurts from the opening 
in the wineskin which the old man carries. The design of the 
small bronze satyr in the peristyle of the house of the Centenary 
is more pleasing ; an opening in the wineskin, held under the 
left arm, cast a jet against the outstretched right hand in such 
a way that the water was thrown back upon the satyr's body. 

Fountains were adorned also with genre groups and animal 
forms. We have already noticed the two bronze groups in the 
peristyle of the house of the Vettii, each representing a boy 
holding a duck, from the bill of which sprang a jet of water 
(Fig. 162). The largest collection of animal forms was about 
the basin in the middle peristyle of the house of the Citharist ; 
it comprised two dogs, a boar, a lion, a deer, and a snake, each 
throwing a jet into the basin below. The fountain jets, how- 
ever, were not in all cases so closely related to the ornamental 
pieces. A number of those in the house of the Vettii sprang 
from lead pipes near the figures. The familiar bronze statue of 
the seated fisherman, in the Naples Museum, belonged to a foun- 
tain, in which the jet was thrown forward, not from the figure, 
but from the mouth of a mask projecting from the stump on 
which the fisherman sits. 

Of the statues of divinities set up for worship in the temples, 
there are unfortunately but few remains. The most important 
fragment is the head of Jupiter, discussed in a previous chapter 
(Fig. 22). Three wretched terra cotta statues of the gods of the 
Capitol were found, as we have seen, in the temple of Zeus Mili- 
chius ; and mention has been made also of the herms and other 
specimens of sculpture in the courts of the temples of Apollo 
and Isis, and in the palaestra. More numerous than any other 
class of sculptures, however, are the small bronze images of 
tutelary divinities preserved in the domestic shrines. These 
are of interest rather from the light which they shed on the 
practices of domestic worship than from their excellence as 
works of art, and it seems unnecessary to add anything here to 
what has already been said in regard to them in the chapter 
dealing with the arrangements of the Pompeian house. But 
occasionally there were large domestic shrines, in which statues 
of merit were placed ; among these are two worthy of mention. 



450 POMPEII 

In the corner of a garden belonging" to a house in the first 
Region (I. ii. 17) is a shrine faced with white marble, in which 
was a small marble statue of Aphrodite, partly supported by a 
figure commonly identified as Hope, Spes. The carving is in no 
way remarkable, but the statue is of interest on account of the 
well preserved coloring applied to the eyes, hair, and dress. 
The group is now in the Naples Museum. 

A more important example, from the aesthetic point of view, 
is the statue of Artemis, of one half life size, shown in Plate XL 
It was found in a house near the Amphitheatre which was ex- 
cavated in 1760 and covered up again. It is a careful copy, 
made in the time of Augustus, of a Greek masterpiece produced 
in the period of the Persian Wars. The original was probably 
the Artemis Laphria mentioned by Pausanias. This was a work 
of Menaechmus and Soedas, two sculptors of Naupactus. Pre- 
vious to the battle of Actium it stood in a sanctuary in Calydon, 
whence it was removed by Augustus, who presented it to the 
colony founded by him at Patras. 

The goddess appears in this statue as a huntress, moving for- 
ward with ^a firm but light step ; the bow in the left hand has 
disappeared. The copyist was remarkably successful in im- 
pressing upon his work the gracious and pleasing character of 
the original ; the later archaic Greek art, in spite of its conven- 
tions, is full of human feeling. The copy preserved also the 
coloring of the model ; but the tinting of the Roman colorist 
was probably less delicate than that of the Greek limner who 
added the polychrome decoration to the marble original. The 
hair was yellow. The pupils of the eyes were brown, the eye- 
lashes and eyebrows black. The rosettes of the diadem were 
yellow, and the border of the outer garment was richly varie- 
gated in tints of yellow, rose color, and white. Traces of rose- 
colored stripes are visible also about the openings of the sleeves, 
on the edge of the mantle at the neck, and on the border of the 
chiton. 

Besides the bronze statues of Apollo and Artemis already 
mentioned (pp. 88, 352), four others of those found at Pompeii 
are worthy of more than passing notice, — the dancing satyr 
from which the house of the Faun received its name, the 



SCULPTURE 



451 



small Silenus used as a standard for a vase, the so-called Nar- 
cissus and the Ephebus found in 1900. 

The dancing satyr is shown in Fig. 258. It was found lying 
on the floor of the atrium in the house of the Faun, but the 
pedestal could not be 
identified. The fig- 
ure is instinct with 
rhythmic motion. 
Every muscle of the 
satyr's sinewy frame 
is in tension as he 
moves forward in the 
dance, snapping his 
fingers to keep time ; 
the pose is a marvel 
of skill. The unhu- 
man character of the 
half-brute is indicated 
by the horns project- 
ing from the forehead, 
and the pointed ears. 
The face, marked by 
low cunning, offers no 
suggestion of lofty 
thought or moral 
sense. We have here 
the personification of 
unalloyed physical en- 
joyment. The satyr, 
unvexed by any care 
or qualm of con- 
science, is intoxicated wdth the joy of free movement, and dances 
on and on, unwearied, with perfect ease and grace. 

Muscular tension is skilfully indicated in the Silenus, who 
stands holding above his head with his left hand a round frame, 
in which, as shown by the fragments, a vase of colored glass was 
standing at the time of the eruption. The head, crowned with 
ivy, leans forward and to the right, and the right hand is moved 




Fig. 25? 



Dancing Faun. Bronze statuette, now in the 
Naples Museum. 



452 



POMPEII 



away from the body in the effort to balance the weight sup 
ported by the left. The frame is awkwardly designed to repre 
sent a snake. The thick-set figure of Silenus is about sixteen 




Fig. 259. — Listening Dionysus, wrongly identified as Narcissus. 

Naples Museum. 



Bronze statuette in the 



inches high. This bronze was discovered in 1864, in the house 
of Popidius Priscus (VII. ii. 20). 

The third of the bronzes mentioned is also a statuette, about 
two feet high (Fig. 259). It was found in 1863 in a house of the 
seventh Region (VII. xii. 21). The figure is that of a youth of 



SCULPTURE 453 

remarkable beauty. The face wears an expression of childlike 
innocence and pleasure. The head leans forward in the attitude 
of listening ; the index finger of the right hand is extended, and 
the graceful pose is that of one who catches the almost inaudible 
sound of a distant voice. 

The name Narcissus, given to the figure by Fiorelli imme- 
diately upon its discovery, is surely wrong ; that unhappy youth 
did not reciprocate the love of the nymph Echo, and could not 
have been imagined with so cheerful a face. The figure has 
also been called Pan, from a myth in which Pan and Echo 
appear together ; but the characteristic attributes are lacking, 
and the rough god of the shepherds would not have been repre- 
sented in so lithe and graceful a form. 

This beautiful youth, with an ivy crown upon his head and 
elaborate coverings for the feet, and with the skin of a doe 
hanging over his shoulder, is none other than Dionysus himself. 
The mirthful god of the vine is not playing with his panther — 
the base is too small to have been designed for two figures, and 
the attitude of listening is not consistent with this interpretation. 
The youthful divinity has fixed his attention upon some distant 
sound, — the cries of the bacchantes upon some mountain height, 
or the laughter of naiads in a shady glen. 

Of unusual interest is the bronze statue of an ephebus, dis- 
covered in November, 1900, outside the city on the north side, 
about a hundred paces from the Vesuvius Gate ; it was laid 
away in an upper room of a house presenting nothing else 
worthy of note. It is apparently a Greek original, and is of 
three-quarters life size (Fig. 25;^). 

The statue represents a youth about fourteen years of age, of 
slender but well-developed form, and finely chiselled features. 
Advancing with firm but graceful step, he rests the right foot, 
and is bringing the left foot forward. In his right hand, ex- 
tended, he carried some object — a branch, it may be, or a crown, 
which was to be laid upon an altar ; the eye naturally follows 
the movement of the hand. 

Especially effective is the rhythmic movement of the body. 
The right thigh, sustained by the resting foot, is carried sHghtly 
forward ; the chest on the left side swings back, while in conse- 



454 



POMPEII 



quence of the extension of the right hand the shoulders remain 
horizontal. Notwithstanding the felicity of the pose, it must be 
confessed that the modelling as a whole is somewhat lacking in 
vigor, the treatment of details being superficial. 

In Greece, before it was carried off to Italy, the figure may 

have been set up as a 
votive offering in some 
sanctuary, or have 
stood in a gymnasium. 
From indications on the 
under side of the feet 
it is clear that the 
statue, after the man- 
ner in vogue in Greece, 
was mounted on a stone 
pedestal, being joined 
to the pedestal with 
melted lead ; the round 
bronze base found with 
it is of ItaUan origin. 
Probably when it was 
being transported from 
Greece the eyes, of 
marble became loose 
in their sockets and fell 
down into the hollow 
interior of the statue; 
they were replaced by 
glass eyes. The break- 
ing of the right arm, 
which was severed 
when found, made possible the recovery of the original eyes, 
which have now again been set in place. 

Insensible to the charm of the figure when seen as the sculptor 
designed it, the Pompeian owner, deciding to turn it to practical 
use, converted it into a lampholder. In the right hand was 
placed a short bar of bronze, to either end of which was fastened 
a small ornament with a projecting arm, for a hanging lamp; 




Fig. 260. — Bronze youth. Naples Museum. 



SCULPTURE 455 

the whole statue was then coated with silver. However bar- 
barous the taste that prompted the transformation, the decorative 
effect of the silvered statue with its Hghted lamps must have 
been far from unpleasant. 

Regarding the place of the statue in relation to the develop- 
ment of Greek sculpture, it is yet too early to speak. 

Had the ruins of Pompeii not been systematically searched, 
after the disaster, for works of art and other objects of value, 
they would have yielded a far richer store of sculptures. But 
while the specimens recovered add little to our knowledge of 
types, they give a new insight into the application of the sculp- 
tor's art in antiquity to the beautifying of the surroundings of 
everyday life. 



CHAPTER LIV 

PAINTING.— WALL DECORATION' 

The inner walls of houses and public buildings at Pompeii 
were plastered, and usually decorated with colors ; only store- 
rooms, kitchens, and apartments designed for the use of slaves 
were left in the white. Outer walls were as a rule plastered, 
except when built of hewn stonQ, a kind of construction not 
employed after the Tufa Period. Stucco was occasionally used 
on facades of ashlar work where special ornamentation seemed 
to be needed, as at the entrance of the house of the Faun ; and 
in later times, now and then, a front with reticulate or brick 
facing was left unplastered. Previous to the time of Augustus 
the stucco coating of outer walls ordinarily remained uncolored. 
Afterwards color was employed, but only to a Hmited extent, 
as in the addition of a dark base to a wall the rest of which 
remained white. 

The painting upon Pompeian walls, as shown by the pains- 
taking investigations of Otto Donner, was fresco, that is, exe- 
cuted in water colors upon the moist stucco of a freshly plastered 
surface. The method of preparing the wall was less elaborate 
than that recommended by Vitruvius, who advises the use of 
seven coats of plaster, first a rough coat, then three of sand 
mortar and three of stucco made with powdered marble, each 
coat being finer than the one preceding. In the better rooms, 
however, we find upon the walls at least one, often several, 
layers of sand mortar, and one or more coats of marble stucco ; 
the entire thickness of the plastering varies from two to three 
inches. In unfinished or neglected rooms walls are sometimes 
found with a single coat of sand mortar. Occasionally powdered 
brick was used in the stucco as a substitute for marble dust. 

Plastering so thick as that ordinarily used must have remained 
moist for a considerable length of time, much longer than the 

456 



WALL DECORATION 457 

plastering of our day ; yet it could not have retained its moisture 
long enough to complete the painting of an entire wall as one 
piece. Walls which are elaborately decorated sometimes show 
traces of a seam, where a moist section was laid on next to one 
that had already become partially dry. When the decorative 
design included pictures, usually the divisions and borders and 
other decorative elements were finished rapidly while the sur- 
face was moist ; then a square or round hole was cut where a 
picture was to be inserted, and filled with fresh stucco, on which 
the picture was painted. In this way a carefully executed 
painting could be set in a wall already dry. 

In the last years of the city pictures were sometimes painted 
on the dry surface of a wall that had previously received its 
decorative framework; some of the figures seen in the middle 
of the large panels furnish examples of this method of work. 
A size of some kind must have been used in such cases, but 
chemical analysis thus far has failed to determine its nature. 
The distemper painting was much less durable than the fresco, 
the colors of which became fixed with the hardening of the 
wall. 

Sometimes, as in the house of Lucretius, the place of paint- 
ings upon stucco was taken by paintings upon wood, the wooden 
panels being let into the wall. As these panels were thin and 
lacked durability, we may perhaps believe that the paintings 
which they contained were of inferior quality. 

The artistic value of Pompeian painting varies from the rou- 
tine work of indifferent decorators to pictures of genuine merit, 
such as those found in the house of the Tragic Poet, the house 
of the Vettii, and the house of Castor and Pollux. Viewed as a 
whole, the wall decoration has a peculiar interest for us ; it not 
only richly illustrates the application of painting by the ancients 
to decorative uses, but also affords a striking example of the 
evolution of decorative designs from simple architectural motives 
to intricate patterns, in which the scheme of coloring is hardly 
less complicated than that of the ornamental forms. 

The four styles of wall decoration were briefly characterized 
in the Introduction, in connection with our survey of the periods 



458 POMPEII 

of construction. It now remains to illustrate these by typical 
examples and to trace their inner connection. We are here 
concerned only with the decorative designs, or ornamental 
framework of the walls ; the paintings, which formed the 
centre of interest in the later styles, are reserved for consid- 
eration in a separate chapter. 

The development of ancient wall decoration came compara- 
tively late, after the art of painting, in the hands of the Greek 
masters, had reached and passed its climax. Yet we know 
almost nothing in regard to the earlier stages. Apparently the 
system which we find at Pompeii originated in the period fol- 
lowing the death of Alexander the Great, and received its impulse 
of development from the contact of Greece with the Orient. 
But whatever the origin, from the time to which the earliest 
specimens at Pompeii belong — the second century b.c. — to 
the destruction of the city, we can trace an uninterrupted de- 
velopment, which, nevertheless, comes to an end in the latter 
part of the first century a.d. 

The decline is characterized by increasing poverty of design, 
with feeble imitation of past styles. Just as it is setting in, how- 
ever, extant examples become rare. Some specimens of the 
wall decoration of later times, as of the period of the Antonines 
and the reign of Septimius Severus, are preserved, but they are 
isolated and not sufficient in number to enable us to follow the 
stages of the decline. Thus it happens that the only period in 
the history of ancient wall decoration in regard to which we 
have the materials for a full and satisfactory study, is the period 
exemplified in the remains at Pompeii, the chronological sequence 
of which extends over two centuries. 

The oldest houses, those belonging to the Period of the Lime- 
stone Atriums (p. 39), have preserved no traces of wall decora- 
tion beyond the limited application of white stucco. 

The remains of the decoration of the Tufa Period are fairly 
abundant, and are well preserved on account of the excellent 
quality of the stucco to which the colors were applied. They 
belong to the first or Incrustation Style. A good example 
has already been given, the end wall of a bedroom in the house 
of the Centaur (Fig. 122); we present here, for more detailed 



WALL DECORATION 459 

examination, the left wall of the atrium in the house of Sallust 
(Fig. 261). 

Notwithstanding the lack of color in our illustration, the 
divisions of the wall are plainly seen — a dado, painted yellow ; 
a relatively low middle division, the upper edge of which is set 
off by a projecting cornice; and an upper part reaching from 
the first cornice, which appears in three sections on account of 
the doors, to the second. The surface of the main part of the 
wall is moulded in stucco to represent slabs or blocks with bev- 
elled edges, which are painted in imitation of different kinds of 
marble. Above the high double doors opening into rooms con- 
nected with the atrium, frames of lattice-work for the admission 
of air and light have been assumed in our restoration. 

The dado in the Incrustation Style is generally treated as a 
separate member ; in rare instances the imitation of marble 
blocks is extended to the floor. It has a smooth surface and is 
painted a bright color, usually yellow ; there is no suggestion 
of the practice of later times, which gave a darker color to the 
base than to the rest of the wall. This independent handling 
is undoubtedly to be explained as a survival from a previous 
decorative system, in which the lower part of the wall, as at 
Tiryns, was protected by a baseboard ; the conventional yellow 
color with which it is painted, as in the case of the lower stripe 
of the Doric architrave in the house of the Faun (p. 5 1 ), is a 
reminiscence of the use of wood. The upper edge of the dado 
was ordinarily distinguished by a smooth, narrow projecting 
band or fillet. 

The blocks moulded in slight relief upon the main part of the 
wall are of different sizes. In our illustration we see first a 
series of three large slabs, which are painted black. Above 
these are three narrow blocks of magenta. The rest present 
a considerable variety of size and color, until we reach those 
just under the cornice, which again are all of the same shade, 
magenta. 

The cornice in this style is always of the Ionic type, with 
dentils. In many cases, as that of the bedroom in the house 
of the Centaur, it serves as an upper border for the decora- 
tion, the wall above being unpainted. Sometimes, however, the 



460 



POMPEII 



imitation of marble is carried above the cornice, the wall surface 
being divided to represent smoothly joined blocks without 
bevelled edges, or painted in plain masses of color separated 
by a narrow white stripe, as in the atrium of the house of Sal- 
lust. Above these brilliant panels we see in Fig. 261 a second 
cornice of simple design ; the wall between this cornice and the 
ceiling was left without decoration. 

This system made no provision for paintings ; their place was 
taken in the general scheme of decoration by elaborate mosaic 




Fig. 261. — Wall decoration in the atrium of the house of Sallust. First or 
Incrustation Style. 

pictures upon the floor. The taste of the age evidently pre- 
ferred representations in mosaic ; otherwise the painting of 
pictures upon the walls, which was brought to so high a degree 
of perfection by Polygnotus and his contemporaries, would not 
have been abandoned. 

The Incrustation Style, as exemplified at Pompeii, is in a 
secondary stage ; it must have been worked out originally in 
genuine materials, at a time when walls were actually veneered, 
to a certain height, with slabs of various kinds of marble, cut 
and arranged to represent ashlar work ; above the cornice 
marking the upper edge of the veneering, the surface was left 
in the white. The use of different varieties of marble points 



WALL DECORATION 



461 



to an active commercial intercourse between the countries about 
the Mediterranean Sea, such as first became possible after the 
conquests of Alexander. So characteristic a style, requiring 
the use of costly materials, could only have been developed in 
an important centre of wealth and culture. 

In view of all the circumstances, we are probably safe in 
concluding that the Incrustation Style originated in Alexandria, 
in the third century b.c. From Alexandria it spread to other 
cities of the East and West, stucco being used in imitation of 




Fig. 262. — Distribution of colors in the section of wall represented in Fig. 261. 



marble, where marble could not be procured ; scanty remains 
similar to those at Pompeii, and of approximately the same 
period — the second century b.c. — have been found at Per- 
gamon, on the island of Delos, and lately in Priene. This style 
represents for us the wall decoration of the Hellenistic age. It 
is characterized by the same poverty of form and obvious striv- 
ing after simplicity which we have noticed in the architecture of 
the Tufa Period. The projecting cornice above the body of the 
wall is always of the same type ; yet the second century B.C. 
enjoyed a rich heritage of architectural forms, and lack of vari- 
ety in this and other details of ornamentation was due, not to 
dearth of materials, but to the prevailing taste. 



462 POMPEII 

The earliest known example of the decoration of the second 
or Architectural Style, is on the walls of the Small Theatre, 
which was built soon after 80 b.c. The style remained in vogue 
till the middle of the reign of Augustus ; it may be loosely 
characterized as the wall decoration of the first century b.c. It 
shows an interesting development from simpler to richer and 
more complex forms. The more elaborate and finished designs 
are not so well exemplified at Pompeii as in Rome, where two 
beautiful series have been found, both dating from the earlier 
part of the reign of Augustus. One series is in the so-called 
house of Livia or Germanicus on the Palatine. The other was 
found in a house on the right bank of the Tiber, excavated in 
1878; the paintings were removed to the new Museo delle 
Terme. The specimen shown in Plate XII, however, is from a 
Pompeian wall ; the room in which it was found opens off from 
the peristyle of a house in the fifth Region (V. i. 1 8), 

The oldest walls of the second style closely resemble those of 
the first, with this characteristic difference : the imitation of 
marble veneering is no longer produced with the aid of relief ; 
color alone is employed, upon a plane surface, as in the cella of 
the temple of Jupiter (Fig. 20). The earlier division of the 
wall into three parts is retained, but the painted cornice, no 
longer restricted to the dentil type, appears in a variety of 
forms. The base also is treated with greater freedom. Fre- 
quently it is painted in strong projection, as if the rest of the 
wall above it were further from the eye, while upon the shelf 
thus formed are painted columns reaching to the ceiling and 
seemingly in front of the main part of the wall ; such columns 
and pillars, with Corinthian capitals, are seen in Plate XII, at the 
right and the left. 

Thus the designs of this style at first comprised only simple 
elements, a wall made up of painted blocks or panels with a dado 
painted in projection supporting columns that seemed to carry 
an architrave on which the ceiUng rested ; there is an excellent 
example in the house of the Labyrinth, on the walls of a room 
at the rear of the garden. But the designs gradually became 
more complex, partly through the differentiation of the simple 
elements, partly through the introduction of new motives, until 




PLATE XII. — SPECIMEN OF WALL DECORATION. SECOND OR 
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE 



WALL DECORATION 463 

a complete architectural system was developed. This system 
differs from that of the fourth style, which is also architectural, 
in that it adheres in the main to actual or possible structural 
forms, while those of the fourth style are fantastic in their pro- 
portions and arrangement. 

In this process of development two clearly defined tendencies 
become manifest, one affecting the treatment of the upper 
division of the wall, the other the elaboration of a characteristic 
motive which now first appears, a framework for the principal 
painting ; for architectural designs are well adapted for the dis- 
play of pictures, and wall paintings now begin to have a promi- 
nent place in Pompeian decoration. 

The upper division tends more and more to be represented as 
an open space, behind the plane of projection in which the main 
part appears. Thus in Plate XII we see on either side a silver 
vase with fruits and vine leaves, standing on the cornice of the 
main wall, in the open. Often the upper space is painted blue, 
as if one caught a glimpse of the sky above the wall ; sometimes 
the outline of a wall further beyond is seen, or columns in the 
rear connected with those in front by a decorative framework; 
and not infrequently small architectural designs, in perspective, 
rest upon the cornice where the vases are shown in our plate. 
But in all the designs of this style, complex as well as simple, 
the threefold division of the wall carried over from the first 
style is retained ; very often the distinction between the base, 
main wall, and upper portion is emphasized by painting them so 
that they seem to be in three planes of projection. 

The ornamental framework for the painting, consistently with 
the architectural character of the decoration as a whole, is 
generally conceived as a pavilion projecting from the wall ; so 
in Plate XII, where we see two columns sustaining a roof, upon 
the front of which winged figures stand, each with a hand 
extended upward to the entablature of the large pillars at the 
sides. The design of the pavilion is suggested by that of a 
shrine, such a shrine as the one in the apse of the sanctuary of 
the City Lares (Fig. 41). 

This conception is here borne out by the subject of the paint- 
ing, which represents a statue of Dionysus resting, ivy-crowned. 



464 POMPEII 

with a thyrsus in his left hand ; the right hand is thrown grace- 
fully over the head, and at the feet of the god the lifelike figure 
of a panther is seen. The round high pedestal supporting the 
group is in the open, and the background affords a charming 
vista among the trees. 

This framing of the principal painting led further to the 
division of the body of the wall vertically into three sections, 
a broad central section, included within the outhne of the 
pavilion, and two panels, one at each side. The arrangement 
is well illustrated in our plate, the side panels of which are 
adorned with painted statues of tastefully draped figures, one of 
them holding a lyre. The later styles of decoration retained 
this symmetrical division of the wall space, which made promi- 
nent the picture of greatest interest without detracting from the 
finish of the decorative setting ; but in the fourth style it is often 
obscured by the intricacy of the designs. 

The third style came into vogue during the reign of Augustus, 
and was prevalent until about 50 a.d. ; we shall call it the 
Ornate Style, from its free use of ornament. It was developed 
out of the second style in the same way that the second style 
was developed out of the first ; but the transition was not ac- 
complished at Pompeii, which, like the provincial cities of our 
day, received its fashions from the great centres. 

The characteristics of the Ornate Style, as regards both the 
main design and the ornamentation, may easily be perceived 
from the example presented in Fig. 263, especially if this is 
viewed in contrast with the specimen of the preceding style 
shown in Plate XII. The architectural design has now lost all 
semblance of real construction. Columns, entablatures, and 
other members are treated conventionally, as subordinate parts 
of a decorative scheme ; they are, with few exceptions, reduced 
to narrow bands or stripes of color dividing the surface of the 
wall. The elaborate border of the central painting suggests 
a pavilion, yet the projecting base, which in the second style 
gave this design its significance, is lacking. Hardly less note- 
worthy is the treatment of the upper portion of the wall. Fanci- 
ful architectural forms and various ornaments stand out against 
a white background, suggestive of the open sky ; yet in our 



WALL DECORATION 465 

example, as often in this style, there is no organic connection 
between the decoration of the main part of the wall and that 
of the ceiling. 

Every part of the framework of the third style is profusely 
ornamented. The ornamental system is seen to have a certain 
affinity with that of Egypt, and Egyptian figures occasionally 
appear ; whence we infer that it was developed in Alexandria. 
Early in the reign of Augustus, in consequence of the relations 
with Egypt following the battle of Actium, a new impulse may 
well have been given to the introduction into Italy of Alexan- 
drian art. 

The specimen of the third style shown in Fig. 263 is from the 
beautiful decoration of the house of Spurius Mesor, portions 
of which are well preserved. The base of our specimen con- 
sists of two parts, a lower border and a broad stripe of black 
divided into sections of different shapes and sizes by lines of 
light color. In the small sections ornaments are seen painted 
in delicate shades, two of them being faces. 

The large painting presents a mythological scene, but the 
subject is not clear. The priestess seems to be performing a 
ceremony of expiation in order to free from the taint of some 
crime the young man who, with a wreath on his head and a 
sword, pointed downward, in his right hand, bends over the 
hind just slain as a sacrifice. The colors are subdued and effec- 
tive ; the painting from the technical point of view is among 
the best found at Pompeii. 

Around the painting are narrow black stripes separated by 
white lines ; in the broader stripe underneath, between the 
columns, are two light blue birds upon a dull red ground. The 
small squares in the flat cornice above are of many colors, 
shades of green, pink, and brown predominating. The broad 
panels on either side of the painting are of the color often 
called Pompeian red ; they have an ornamented border, and a 
small winged figure in the centre. The stripe below these 
shows vases and other ornaments on an orange-yellow ground ; 
that above, interrupted by the cornice over the painting, is black, 
with various ornaments, as baskets of fruit, sistrums, and geese, 
painted in neutral colors. Among the ornaments of the upper 



466 



POMPEII 




Fig. 263. — Specimen of wall decoration. Third or Ornate Style. 
From the house of Spurius Mesor. 



part of the wall, festoons of leaves, vines, vases, parrots, and 
griffins can be distinguished, painted in light shades of brown, 
blue, green, and yellow. 

The effect of the Ornate Style, with its symmetrical forms 
and variety of detail, is pleasing ; but the free use of neutral 



WALL DECORATION 467 

tones gives the walls a somewhat cold and formal appearance 
when we bring into contrast the warm coloring of the next 
period. 

The fourth or Intricate Style first appears about the middle 
of the first century a.d. It started, as did the third, with the 
symmetrical division of the wall developed in the second style ; 
it differs from the third in that it always retained a sense of 
architectural form. The columns are often fluted, as in a speci- 
men in the Naples Museum (Fig. 264). The entablatures and 
coffered ceilings, Hght and airy as they often seem, have never- 
theless a suggestion of reality ; we know that architectural forms 
are presented, and not mere stripes of color. Yet the difference 
between the fourth and the second style is no less apparent. 
In the latter the architectural designs are not inconsistent with 
real construction ; in the former the imagination of the designer 
had free scope, producing patterns so fantastic and intricate 
that the fundamental idea at the basis of the wall divisions 
seems entirely lost sight of at times. 

The preference for architectural forms was carried so far that 
between the large panels of black, red, or yellow, vertical sec- 
tions of wall were left which were filled with airy structures on 
a white background ; the parts represented as nearest the be- 
holder were painted yellow, those further back were adorned 
with all the colors of the rainbow, thus forming a kind of color 
perspective (Fig. 265). The designs of the main part were ex- 
tended into the upper division, and frequently the whole wall 
appears as an intricate scaffolding, partially concealed by the 
large panels ; these sometimes have the appearance of tapestries 
hanging suspended from the scaffolding, and are so treated, as 
in the case of the curtains shown in Plate XIII. The fundamen- 
tal conception of the decorative system is lost when the back- 
ground of the upper part and of the airy scaffoldings is no 
longer left w^hite, but painted the same color as the rest of the 
wall, so that the effect of distance and perspective is obscured. 
Occasionally, also, the architectural framework of the upper por- 
tion of the wall has no connection with that of the main part. 

The ornaments of the fourth style were taken largely from 
the domain of plastic art. Groups of statuary as well as single 



468 



POMPEII 



figures appear either upon projecting portions of the architec- 
tural framework, as in Fig. 264, or in the background. They 

are frequently painted 
yellow, suggesting the 
gilding applied to an- 
cient statues, particu- 
larly those of bronze, 
and present a striking 
contrast to the masses 
of strong color in the 
large panels and the 
brilliant shades of the 
architectural designs. 
They are in harmony 
with the taste of the 
period, which, as we 
have seen, manifested 
a fondness for orna- 
mentation in stucco 
relief, the effect of 
which was heightened 
by the free use of color. 
The large panels con- 
tained paintings of va- 
rious sizes, sometimes 
copies of masterpieces, 
more often a simple 
floating figure or a Cu- 
pid : groups are also 
found, as Cupid and 
Pysche, or a satyr with 
a bacchante. The appearance of a picture worked in tapestry is 
given by a border just inside the framework of the panel, as 
often in the decoration of the fourth style. 

The fourth style cannot have been derived from the third. 
It is organically related with the second, out of which it was 
developed by laying stress on precisely that element, the archi- 
tectural, the suppression of which gave rise to the third style 




Fig. 264. — Specimen of wall decoration. Fourth style. 



WALL DECORATION 



469 



of decoration. The most reasonable explanation of the relations 
of the four styles, briefly stated, is this : — 

The Incrustation Style, a direct offshoot of Hellenistic art, was 
prevalent in eastern cities, where it was naturally followed by the 
Architectural Style ; this may have been developed at one centre 
or, in different phases, at different centres contemporaneously. 







Fig. 265. — Specimen of wall decoration. Fourth style. 

In the middle panel, mythological scene in which Hercules is the principal figure; in each 

of the panels, a satyr and a bacchante. 



At some prominent centre, probably Alexandria, the Archi- 
tectural Style passed over into the Ornate Style, which was 
introduced into Italy in the reign of Augustus and remained in 
vogue till the middle of the first century a.d. 

Meanwhile, at some other centre of culture, possibly Antioch, 
the Architectural Style, by an equally natural course of develop- 



470 POMPEII 

ment, had passed over into the Intricate Style, which was first 
brought to Pompeii about 50 a.d. and remained in fashion till 
the destruction of the city. 

The earthquake of the year 63 threw down some buildings 
and made necessary the thorough-going repair of many others. 
Between that year and 79, more walls were freshly decorated, 
probably, than in any previous period of equal length in the 
history of the city. For this reason, examples of decoration in 
the Intricate Style are much more numerous than might have 
been expected from the length of time that it was in vogue ; 
they give the prevailing cast to the remains of painting in the 
ruins, and this style is ordinarily thought of when Pompeian 
wall decoration is referred to. The complex designs and brill- 
iant colors form a decorative scheme which is often most effec- 
tive, although the system of the third style reveals a finer and 
more correct taste. 

If no remains of the two earlier styles had survived to modern 
times, the antecedents and relations of the other two could not 
possibly be understood. But with the first two in mind, we are 
able to see clearly how the most complex forms of the later 
decoration may be reduced, in last anal3^sis, to simple elements. 
Even in the example of the Intricate Style given in Plate XIII, 
we find a suggestion of the threefold division of the wall into 
base, main part, and upper part, which was so prominent in the 
Incrustation Style ; and also an elaborate structural form at the 
middle of the wall recalling the pavilion framework of the sec- 
ond style, with a symmetrical arrangement of the architectural 
designs on either side, suggesting the panels at the sides of the 
principal painting. 

The slabs of colored marble in the Incrustation Style are rep- 
resented by panels for pictures or ornamental forms of all shapes 
and sizes ; and the architectural designs, so simple at the begin- 
ning, have by almost imperceptible changes and additions be- 
come decorative patterns so varied and intricate that taken by 
themselves they give no hint of their origin. 



CHAPTER LV 

THE PAINTINGS 

The hanging of pictures upon the walls seems not to have 
been in vogue at Pompeii during the period to which the re- 
mains belong. The system of decoration left no room for 
framed paintings, and no traces of any such have been dis- 
covered. The paintings which have been preserved at Pom- 
peii, not merely the small groups and single figures introduced 
to enliven the design, but the large compositions as well, all 
formed a part of the wall decoration. 

The number is relatively large. In the catalogue by Helbig, 
published in 1868, there are nearly two thousand entries, in- 
cluding a few paintings from Herculaneum and other Cam- 
panian sites. The supplement compiled by Sogliano in 1879 
records more than eight hundred pictures brought to light in 
the preceding decade. We are probably safe in estimating the 
whole number of Pompeian paintings still in existence, or known 
from description, as about thirty-five hundred. 

In all this wealth of examples, however, it is not possible to 
find any evidence of a progressive development either in com- 
position or in technique. There are indeed slight differences, 
mainly in regard to technical handling and color scheme, which 
distinguish the paintings found in the decoration of the third 
style from those of the other two styles in which paintings 
appear ; but, on the other hand, the distinction between those of 
the second and those of the fourth style is much less marked. 

The period from 80 b.c. to 79 a.d. was as little creative in the 
field of painting as in that of sculpture. No new types appear, 
no improvements are worked out ; the painter, as the sculptor, 
was an eclectic, who drew upon the creations of the past as suited 
his fancy, and contented himself v/ith copying or imitating. In 

471 



472 POMPEII 

the adaptation of paintings to decorative use the artist reproduced 
either entire compositions or single motives which seemed to 
answer his purpose. The general preference was for paintings 
of the Hellenistic age, after the death of Alexander ; yet 
examples of earlier styles are occasionally found, as the Sacrifice 
of Iphigenia (Fig. 156) and the dramatic scene in which Orestes 
and Pylades appear before King Thoas (Fig. 182). 

New discoveries and the progress of research will sometime, 
perhaps, make it possible to present a general survey of the 
Pompeian paintings from the historical and critical point of 
view. No such comprehensive treatment is yet possible, how- 
ever, and we must content ourselves with offering a few obser- 
vations in regard to the distribution of the paintings among the 
different decorative styles and the classes of subjects repre- 
sented. 

The Incrustation Style, as previously remarked, left no place 
for paintings upon the walls. Nevertheless, in isolated cases, 
we find a simple pictorial representation upon the surface of 
one of the blocks painted in imitation of marble, as if the veins 
of the stone had run into a shape suggestive of an object, as a 
vase or a bird ; in one instance, curiously enough, a wrestling 
match is outlined, between Hercules and Antaeus. In the Tufa 
Period the desire for paintings was satisfied by the mosaic 
pictures upon the floor. 

The earher walls of the second style in this respect resemble 
those of the first ; the examples in the house of the Labyrinth 
have no paintings. The later walls, however, are rich in 
pictures, but those of Pompeii are not so abundantly adorned as 
those in Rome (p. 462). The elaborate painting shown in the 
pavilion frame in Plate XII is exceptional among the Pompeian 
remains of this style. 

The great majority of the paintings are found upon walls of 
the third and fourth styles. On the older walls of the third 
style, as we have seen, the principal painting appears in a frame, 
the design of which is taken from that of the conventional 
pavilion of the second style. In later examples the close 
relation between the picture and the frame is no longer main- 
tained ; the frame simply encloses a large panel of uniform 



THE PAINTINGS 473 

color, in the middle of which a relatively small picture is seen. 
This arrangement was carried over into the fourth style, but the 
conception of a pavilion frame is entirely lost sight of ; the 
painting is in the middle of a large panel of brilliant color, 
around which the architectural framework is extended. A 
Pompeian room well decorated in either of the later styles con- 
tained four of these prominent paintings, in case there was no 
door at the • middle of one of the sides ; if a door interfered, 
there were only three. 

Paintings were also placed in the divisions of the wall at the 
right and the left of the central panel. In Plate XII we noticed 
a single figure on either side of the pavilion, but such additions 
are rare in the second style. In the third style the side panels 
are uniformly adorned with paintings. In Fig. 263 the small 
figure in the middle of the panel at the left is a Cupid ; frequently 
a flying swan is seen, or a landscape lightly sketched in mono- 
chrome on the ground of the panel. Sometimes the painting is 
set off by a separate frame ; if this is round, a bust is usually 
represented. Groups of two figures were preferred for the side 
panels of the fourth style, the favorite subject being a satyr and 
a bacchante, as in Fig. 265 ; these sometimes appear as busts, 
but are more often represented as floating figures. 

Characteristic of the fourth style, in respect to the distribu- 
tion of paintings, is the use of single figures and simple com- 
positions to add life to the fantastic architectural designs in the 
upper part of the wall and in the divisions between the large 
panels. Here we may see satyrs and bacchantes, young girls 
and solemn-visaged men with implements of sacrifice ; the 
figures appear in great variety of type and subject. Some- 
times groups are broken up, and the elements of a mythological 
scene, as that of Admetus and Alcestis, are distributed as single 
figures in the architectural framework. 

At the time of the eruption the fondness for pictorial repre- 
sentations was increasing, and they were being introduced into 
every part of the decoration, including the frieze of the main 
part of the wall, the use of which in this way commenced in 
the time of the third style (Fig. 263), and the stripe below, 
between the main part of the wall and the base (Fig. 265); 



474 



POMPEII 



how elaborate this intermediate decoration might become we 
have already seen in the case of the house of the Vettii. 

Frequently in the fourth style the lower part of the archi- 
tectural framework separating two large panels appears to be 
closed, as in Plate XIII, by a narrow panel, above which a 
painting is seen. The pictures found in these places often 
represent still life. Seafights are also a favorite subject ; such 
may be seen in the temple of Isis, the Macellum, and one of the 
rooms in the house of the Vettii. Generally on the walls of 
the fourth style, wherever there is available space, we find small 
pictures in great variety, the most common being landscapes, 
simply painted, with the use of few colors. 

It is by no means easy to make a satisfactory classification of 
Pompeian paintings according to subject. Nevertheless, with a 
few exceptions, they may be roughly grouped in four general 
classes, mythological paintings, genre paintings, landscapes, and 
still hfe. Most of the large and important pictures belong to 
the first class. The mythological paintings will therefore be 

discussed at somewhat 
greater length ; the 
other three classes will 
require only a brief 
characterization. 

The still-life paint- 
ings represent all kinds 
of meat, fish, fowl, and 
fruits. According to 
Vitruvius, this kind of 
picture was called Xe- 
nion. The reason given 
for the name recalls a curious custom of ancient Greece. When 
a guest, xenos, was received into a Greek home, says this writer, 
he was invited to sit at the table for one day. After that pro- 
visions were furnished to him uncooked, and he prepared his 
own meals. A portion of unprepared victuals thus came to be 
called xenion, ' the stranger's portion,' and the name was after- 
wards transferred to pictures in which such provisions appear. 
A fruit piece, now in the Naples Museum, is shown in Fig. 266. 




Fig. 266. — A fruit piece, Xenion. 



THE PAINTINGS 475 

Landscapes are numerous and of all sizes. Occasionally a 
garden wall of the fourth style is covered with a single large 
painting, in which villas, gardens, roads, and harbors are real- 
istically presented. Such pictures are of Italian origin ; the 
name of the artist who first painted them is probably Sextus 
Tadius, but the reading of the passage in which the name 
occurs (Plin. N. H. XXXV. x. 116) is uncertain. 

Common to the third and fourth styles are garden scenes, in 
which, behind a light barrier, the plants of a garden appear, 
with birds, statues, and fountains. The finest extant example is 
in the villa of Livia, at Prima Porta, near Rome. 




Fig. 267. — A landscape painting. 

Large landscapes sometimes have a place in the principal 
panels of the walls. These are all of Hellenistic origin, and 
are found almost without exception in the decoration of the 
third style. They generally represent a quiet nook of wood- 
land, with high chffs ; in the foreground is a shrine — perhaps 
more than one — with figures of men sacrificing or coming to 
offer worship. 

The great majority of the landscapes, however, are introduced 
into various parts of the decoration outside of the large panels, 
and are quite small. In them we see little shrines or villas by 
the seaside ; a river with a bridge on which a traveller appears 
crossing the stream ; or buildings on an island or peninsula in 
the edge of a bodv of water, as in PTg. 267. Often they are 



476 



POMPEII 



simply light sketches; now and then one of these small land- 
scapes is painted in a peculiar tint, as if the scene were repre- 
sented by moonlight. 

The genre paintings are of special importance on account of 
the light they shed on the life and customs of the ancients. A 
number have already been described or illustrated in the chapter 




Fig. 268. — Grouji • If 



of whom is sounding two stringed instrument 



on the house of the Vettii, and in the part devoted to the trades 
and occupations. To these we should add the picture of an 
artist in the house of the Surgeon (Fig. 128), and the scenes 
from the life of the Forum (Figs. 16, 17). 

Here belong also the groups in which figures are seen with 
a roll of papyrus or a writing tablet, suggestive of literary pur- 
suits, and figures with musical instruments. A group of mu- 



THE PAINTINGS 



477 



sicians is shown in Fig. 268, in which are four women, one of 
whom is tuning a couple of stringed instruments to sound in 
unison. 

In the same class are included two small painted busts not 
infrequently met with, that of a girl with a writing tablet in her 
left hand holding the end of a stylus against her lips, as if 
pondering what to write, and that of a young man with one end 




Fig. 269. — Paquius Proculus and his wife. 

of a roll of papyrus, in which he has been reading, under his 
chin. A Pompeian baker, Publius Paquius Proculus, brought 
these two ideal busts into one painting, substituting for the 
faces of the youth and maiden those of himself and his wife 
(Fig. 269). The portraits are reaUstic, but the faces are not 
unattractive ; that of Proculus seems more kindly and ingenuous 
than the face of Caecilius Jucundus (Fig. 256). 

Two ideal painted busts have recently been found, each of a 
youth with a roll of papyrus. Their chief interest lies in the 



478 POMPEII 

fact that each roll is provided with a narrow tag or label, of the 
sort that the Romans called index, on which the names Plato 
and Homerics can be plainly read. The two types of face well 
correspond with the trend of taste suggested by the titles : the 
delicate features and upturned gaze of the one indicate a poetic 
temperament ; the other has a high forehead and an air of 
meditation, appropriate for a student of philosophy. 

The mythological paintings rarely present rapid movement. 
To the few exceptions belong the two familiar pictures placed 
opposite each other in the tablinum of the house of Castor 
and Pollux, Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes on 
the island of Scyros, and the quarrel between Achilles and 
Agamemnon. Only part of the latter painting is preserved, 
but both are strong compositions, and are repeated on other 
walls. 

Scenes of combat, the interest of which lies in the display of 
physical force, are still more infrequently met with, and seem 
out of harmony with the prevailing taste. Two pictures from 
Herculaneum represent Hercules putting forth his strength ; in 
one he is struggling with the Nemean lion, in the other carrying 
the Erymanthian boar. The few paintings of this kind at 
Pompeii are badly preserved. In two of them Meleager ap- 
pears, engaged in combat with the boar ; in another we see 
Achilles before the walls of Troy with drawn sword in one 
hand, with the other grasping by the hair Troilus, an effemi- 
nate Trojan youth, attired in Oriental fashion, who mounted 
on his horse is vainly trying to escape ; a fourth represents 
a combat between a heavy-armed warrior and an Amazon. 
But such paintings are the more conspicuous by reason of their 
rarity, and those that have thus far been discovered are all 
found upon walls of the third style. 

A much larger number of mythological compositions repre- 
sent a moment of dramatic interest, the artist relying for his 
effect upon the bearing and facial expression of the persons 
appearing in the scene. The interest is purely psychological, 
and several of the pictures that have been preserved give us an 
exceedingly favorable idea of the ability of ancient painters to 
express emotion, especially when we remember that these paint- 



THE PAINTINGS 



479 



ings are merely decorative copies of masterpieces the originals 
of which in most cases had probably never been seen by the 
workmen who painted the copies on the walls. 

Among the more familiar examples is the face of Orestes in 
the painting found in the house of the Citharist (Fig. 182), and 
that of lo, watched by Argus, in the Macellum. Emotion is 
expressed with even greater skill in the face of lo in a painting 
of the temple of Isis. The goddess welcomes the wanderer to 
Egypt after her long season of suffering ; the traces of the suf- 
fering are clearly seen, yet are illumined by the ineffable and 
serene joy of final deliverance. 

One of the most beautiful specimens of ancient painting is 
a fragment, badly preserved, in the tablinum of the house of 
Caecilius Jucundus. The 
composition probably rep- 
resented Priam turning 
back toward Troy with 
the body of Hector, which 
he had just ransomed. In 
the fragment, shown in 
Fig. 270, we see the aged 
Hecuba, together with a 
daughter or maidservant, 
looking with unutterable 
anguish from an upper 
window down upon the 
scene. The gray-haired 

queen, whose features still retain much of their youthful beauty, 
gazes upon the dust-stained body of her son with grief too deep 
for tears. 

In the majority of paintings the subjects of which are taken 
from myths the characters are represented either in a relation of 
rest, not suggestive of intense emotion, or in a lasting situation 
of dramatic interest, which is devoid of momentary excitement 
and does not suggest the display of evanescent feeling. The 
situation is sometimes cheerful, sometimes calculated to arouse 
sympathy ; if the characters were not mythological, the scenes 
might pass for those of everyday life. Thus we see Narcissus 




Fig. 270.— Hecuba with a younger companion 
looking from an upper window as Priam brings 
back the body of Hector. 



48o POMPEII 

looking at the reflection of his face in a clear spring in the for- 
est ; Polyphemus, on the seashore, receiving from the hands of 
a Cupid a letter sent by Galatea ; and Apollo playing on the lyre 
for Admetus, while the herd grazes around him. 

To the same series of cheerful or idyllic pictures belong the 
Selene hovering over the sleeping Endymion ; Paris and Oenone 
on Mt. Ida, Paris cutting the name of his sweetheart in the bark 
of a tree ; and Perseus with Andromeda looking at the reflection 
of the head of Medusa in a pool. With these we may class 
also the representations of Bacchus as he moves along with his 
rollicking band and suddenly comes upon the sleeping Ariadne ; 
and Hercules with Omphale, sometimes sitting in woman's attire 
beside her and spinning, sometimes staggering in his cups or 
lying drunk upon the ground while she stands or sits near him. 

Examples of a pathetic situation are equally abundant. We 
find Aphrodite caring for the wounded Adonis, and Cyparissus 
grieving over the dead stag. The pathos of the scene, however, 
is not always so obviously suggested. The familiar painting of 
Europa represents the maiden playfully sitting upon the bull, 
which one of her girlish companions is caressing. The situa- 
tion, from one point of view, is idyllic, yet it brings to mind the 
unhappy fate of the girl, borne far away from home over the 
sea to a distant land, and the effect is heightened by giving 
her a wonderfully beautiful form. 

Not infrequently a similar result is produced by placing figures 
of incongruous type in sharp contrast ; so in the oft-repeated 
composition in which the beautiful Thetis in elegant attire sits 
in the workshop of Hephaestus, looking at the shield which the 
rough and grimy smith is finishing for Achilles. In another 
composition Pasiphae is seen in the shop of Daedalus, who 
points out the wooden cow; and a similar idea of contrast must 
have been present in the mind of the artist who painted Danae 
after she had been cast ashore in a chest on the island of Seri- 
phus, sitting on the beach with little Perseus in her lap, while 
two fishermen standing near make inquiry concerning her strange 
fate. 

The symmetrical arrangement of the paintings in a Pompeian 
room can hardly have failed to influence the choice of com- 



THE PAINTINGS 481 

positions for the principal panels, especially in cases in which 
mythological scenes were to be represented. Sometimes, though 
not so frequently as might have been expected, pictures were 
grouped according to subject. We have already noticed the 
relation of two paintings, in the house of Castor and Pollux, 
in w^hich Achilles is the principal figure. The first of these, 
Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes, is found in a room 
of another house in a group of three ; one of the companion 
pieces represents Thetis in the smithy of Hephaestus looking 
at the weapons which are being made for Achilles, while in the 
other she is seen riding over the sea on a Triton, bringing them 
to her son. There is another group of three pictures related by 
subject in a room in the house of the Vettii; they belong to the 
Theban cycle, and represent the infant Hercules strangling the 
serpents, the death of Pentheus, and the binding of Dirce. 

Similarity of scene and of treatment influenced the selection 
of paintings for a roomi much more often than unity of subject. 
A good illustration is the pair of pictures several times found 
together, one of which represents Polyphemus on the beach 
receiving from a Cupid a letter written by Galatea ; in the other 
Aphrodite is seen on the seashore fishing, with Cupids all about 
her. The suggestion of Love is common to both paintings, but 
the juxtaposition of the two as counterparts is due to the simi- 
larity of scene. Opposite the picture of Europa referred to 
above, is a Pan playing on his pipe, with nymphs around him ; 
the two pictures, which appear in a room of the third style, from 
the decorative point of view form an effective pair. 

A sleeping room of the same style — though in respect to 
grouping no difference between the styles is apparent — offers 
an interesting example of a double group. The four principal 
paintings form two pairs. In one pair we see, on one side, 
Hercules in the garden of the Hesperides approaching an altar 
around which three maidens are standing ; on the other, a shrine 
of Artemis in a forest with three worshippers drawing near, one 
of whom brings a garland. The two pictures harmonize in the 
character of the scenery and in the arrangement of the figures. 

The effectiveness of the other pair as a decorative counter- 
part can be seen in our illustrations ; the subject of one of the 



482 



POMPEII 




-?- 



paintings is the fate of the pipes which Athena cast aside 
(Fig. 271), and of the other the fall of Icarus (Fig. 272). 

In the first of the two pictures we have one of the few extant 
examples of a kind of painting associated with the name of 

Philostratus, in 
which different 
scenes representing 
the successive stages 
of an action are 
united in one compo- 
sition. 

In the foreground 
at the left sits 
Athena, with her 
shield on the ground 
beside her, playing 
the double pipe ; a 
nymph in front ris- 
ing from the surface 
of a stream holds up 
a mirror in which the 
goddess may see her 
face reflected as she 
plays. 

The next two 
scenes lie just across 
the brook. At the 
foot of the cliff sits 
the divinity of the 
country, Phrygia, in 
which the story of 
Marsyas is localized. 
Above, at the left, we see the satyr with a shepherd's crook in 
his left hand blowing a Pan's pipe ; he has not yet espied the 
pipes thrown away by Athena. 

At the right he appears again, near the tree, having found 
the pipes discarded by the goddess and picked them up. Lastly, 
in the middle of the background, we see him playing the pipes 



M 








Fig. 27T. — Atiiena's pipes and the fate ol Marsyas. 



THE PAINTINGS 



483 



0^ 



'-^-9 



le^' 









in the presence of the Muses, who are serving as judges in 
the contest of skill between the satyr and Apollo. 

The final scene with the flaying of Marsyas, which was 
sometimes represented in sculpture, and appears also in several 
Pompeian paintings, 
is here omitted. 

The inner connec- 
tion of the other pic- 
ture is not so clear. 
It is perhaps a con- 
fused form of a 
composition in 
which Icarus, lying 
on the ground after 
his fall, was the cen- 
tral figure ; the local 
divinities and na- 
tives of the region 
were looking upon 
the body of the hap- 
less youth with pity ; 
while Daedalus, 
hovering in the air 
above, was trying to 
find the spot where 
he had fallen. 

Our artist, how- 
ever, thinking to 
heighten the effect, 
represented Icarus 
as plunging head- 
long through the air, 
with the result shown in the illustration ; neither Daedalus nor 
the figures in the foreground seem yet to have become aware of 
the catastrophe. 

We can in no way more appropriately bring to a close our 
brief survey of the Pompeian paintings than by presenting a 
reproduction of the scene in which Zeus and Hera appear on 




^^n<*^'^.^^. 








Fig. 272. — The fall of Icarus. 



484 



POMPEII 



Mt. Ida (Fig. 273). This painting has been sufficiently dis- 
cussed in another connection (pp. 316-317); though preserved 




Fig. 273. — Zeus and Hera on Mt. Ida. Wall painting from the house of the Tragic Poet. 



in a damaged condition, it clearly represents an original of no 
slight merit. 



PART VI 

THE INSCRIPTIONS OF POMPEII 
CHAPTER LVI 

IMPORTANCE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS. — MONUMENTAL 
INSCRIPTIONS AND PUBLIC NOTICES 

The inscriptions discovered at Pompeii number more than 
six thousand. They cover a wide field, ranging from com- 
memorative tablets put up at public expense to the scribblings 
of idlers upon the plastered walls. It would be an exaggeration 
to say that they contribute to our knowledge of antiquity much 
that is new ; their value lies rather in the insight which they 
give into the hfe of the city and its people. 

In one respect the evidence derived from inscriptions, though 
often of the most fragmentary character, is especially satisfac- 
tory. We feel that we are handling original documents, without 
the intervention of that succession of copyists which stands 
between the author of a Greek or Roman masterpiece and the 
modern reader. The shapes of the letters and the spelling are 
just as they were left by the stonecutter or the scribbler ; the 
various handwritings can still be as plainly distinguished on the 
charred tablets of Caecilius Jucundus as though the signatures 
were witnessed only yesterday. Through the inscriptions we 
are brought into contact with the personality of the Pompeians 
as in no other way. 

The inscriptions may be classified either according to the 
subject matter or according to the form in which they appear, 
whether cut in stone, or painted, or scratched upon a smooth 
surface with a stylus. No detailed classification need be given 
here ; it will be sufficient for our purposes to discuss the main 
divisions briefly under four heads, — monumental inscriptions and 

485 



486 POMPEII 

public notices, graffiti, and inscriptions relating to business 
affairs. 

Monumental inscriptions include those which are cut in hard 
material and are intended to be read by all who see them. 
They are found at Pompeii chiefly in or upon public buildings, 
on pedestals of statues and on sepulchral monuments. They 
are characterized by extreme brevity. A few are in the Oscan 
language, the rest are in Latin. The more important examples 
have been presented in the preceding pages in connection with 
the monuments to which they belong. A list of them is given 
in the Index under '* Inscriptions." 

The public notices are painted upon the walls along the sides 
of the streets, ordinarily in a bright red color ; a few are in 
black. The most important are the election notices, in which 
a candidate is recommended for a public office. These are 
about sixteen hundred in number, and ,the names of more than 
a hundred different candidates appear in them. 

The election notices fall into two classes, distinguished both 
by the style of writing and by the manner of expression, — 
earlier, from the time of the Republic, and later, belonging to 
the Imperial period. The shapes of the letters in those of the 
former class are irregular, and bear the mark of an unpractised 
hand. The later notices, on the contrary, have a more finished 
appearance ; they are executed in a kind of calligraphic style 
that suggests the employment of skilled clerks who made the 
painting of electoral recommendations a part of their business. 
We have already met with the name of one painter of notices 
who signed his work, Aemilius Celer (p. 223). His house has 
been discovered, near the northeast corner of the ninth Region ; 
it was identified by means of an inscription painted on the out- 
side : Ae^nilius Celer hie habitat, — ' Aemilius Celer lives here.' 

The language of the earlier recommendations is of the sim- 
plest. We find the name of the candidate with no suggestion 
of praise excepting occasionally the letters v. b., for vinim 
bonuniy 'good man.' The name of the office is given in an 
abbreviated form, but that of the person who makes the recom- 
mendation nowhere appears. In one example the elements of 



PUBLIC NOTICES 487 

the common formula 0. v.f., for oro vos, facite, are given almost 
in full: M. Mariuni aed.faci., oro vos, — 'Make Marcus Marius 
aedile, I beg of you.' The following notice appears on Stabian 
Street in letters nearly 8 inches high : P • FVR • II • V • \B • • F, 
that is Publiitni Furium djiiimvirum, vimm boniini, oro vos, 
facite, — ' Make Publius Furius duumvir, I beg of you ; he's a 
good man.' 

Some of the later election notices are almost equally brief, 
presenting merely the name of the candidate, the ofBce for 
which he is recommended, and the formula 0. v. /., as in this 
instance : Hereimium Celsitm aed\ileni\ 0. v.f., — ' Make Heren- 
nius Celsus aedile, I beg of you.' Occasionally even the formula 
is omitted, and we have simply the name of the candidate and 
of the office, both invariably in the accusative case, as Casellium 
aed.y which appears in several places, and AT. Holconium Pris- 
ciun II. vir. i. d. 

More frequently the recommendation includes a reference to 
the good qualities of the candidate. Sometimes he is simply 
styled 'a good man,' as in the earlier notices; but the most 
common formula in this connection is d. r. /., for digiiiim re 
publica, 'worthy of public office.' In some instances the char- 
acterization is more definite. More than one candidate is 
affirmed to be ' an upright young man ' {iuvenem probnfn\ or 
' a youth of singular modesty ' (yvereciuidissiminn iiivenem). In 
regard to one aspirant for office we are informed that ' he will 
be the watch-dog of the treasury ' — Jiic aerarium coiiscrvabit. 

The names of those who make the recommendations often 
appear in the later notices. Now and then individuals assume 
the responsibility, as Vesonius Primus (p. 396), and Acceptus 
and Euhodia (p. 341), who were undoubtedly owners of the 
property on which the notices appear. Thus the candidate's 
neighbors are sometimes represented as favoring his election, as 
in the case of Claudius Verus : Ti. Clandiiim Veriim IL vir. 
vicini rogant, — * His neighbors request the election of Tiberius 
Claudius Verus as duumvir.' Electoral recommendations are 
painted on all sides of the house of Verus — the extensive estab- 
Ushment in the ninth Region known as the house of the Centenary. 

The class of election notices in which we find the members of 



488 POMPEII 

a craft united in the support of a candidate has been sufficiently 
illustrated in another connection (p. 384). To these we may 
add a recommendation found on a wall facing the temple of 
Isis : Cn. Hehiiim Sabinum aed. Isiaci universi rog\jint\ — ' The 
worshippers of Isis, as a body, request the election of Gnaeus 
Helvius Sabinus as aedile.' A suburb also might have a candi- 
date, as in the following instance : M. Epidiitm Sabinum aed. 
Campanienses rog., — ' The inhabitants of the Pagus Campanus 
ask for the election of Marcus Epidius Sabinus as aedile.' 

Sometimes all those who are engaged in an occupation are 
urged to support a candidate. ' Innkeepers, make Sallustius 
Capito aedile,' we read in one notice. In others, various classes 
of citizens having a common bond, as the ballplayers, and the 
dealers in perfumes, are exhorted to work for the election of a 
candidate presumably favorable to their interests. In one in- 
stance there is a direct appeal to an individual, involving a 
pledge of future support: Sabinum aed{ilem\ Procule, fac, et 
ille te faciei, — ' Proculus, make Sabinus aedile, and he will do 
as much for you.' 

In view of the deep interest in the municipal elections, re- 
vealed by these notices, it is not surprising to find that the 
support of a candidate by a man of unusual prominence was 
extensively advertised. In three different parts of the city the 
attention of voters was directed to the fact that Suedius Clemens, 
the commissioner sent by Vespasian to decide the ownership of 
certain plots of ground (p. 407), favored the election of Epidius 
Sabinus as duumvir. One of the notices reads : M. Epidium 
Sabinum II. vir. iur. die. 0. v. /., dignum iiLvenem, Suedius 
Clemens sajictissimus index facit vicinis rogantibus, — ' At the 
request of the neighbors, Suedius Clemens, most upright judge, is 
working for the election of Marcus Epidius Sabinus, a worthy 
young man, as duumvir with judiciary authority. He begs of 
you to elect this candidate.' 

So public a method of pressing a candidacy put a formidable 
weapon into the hands of the candidate's enemies, and the form 
of a recommendation was sometimes used against an office 
seeker with telling effect. Vatiam aed. furunculi rog., — ' The 
sneak thieves request the election of Vatia as aedile,' we find 



PUBLIC NOTICES 489 

conspicuously painted on a wall on Augustales Street. Accord- 
ing to other notices near by, ' The whole company of late 
drinkers ' {seribibi iLuiversi) and ' all the people who are asleep ' 
{dormientes universi) favored the candidacy of the same un- 
happy Vatia. The last notice which we shall present in this 
connection may have been painted on the order of the girl who 
appears in it : Ciaudimn II. vir. anhmda facit, — ' His little 
sweetheart is working for the election of Claudius as dumnvir.' 
The reference is probably to the Tiberius Claudius Verus men- 
tioned above. 

The other kinds of public notices are represented by rela- 
tively few examples. Of special interest are the announcements 
of gladiatorial combats, which were discussed in a previous 
chapter (p. 221). Next in importance are perhaps the advertise- 
ments of buildings to rent. One of these, relating to the Ele- 
phant Inn, has already been mentioned (p. 400). We present 
here two others, which have to do with large properties. The 
first, which has now disappeared, was painted on a wall in the 
sixth Region, at the south end of the third Insula. It reads as 
follows : — 

INSULA ARRIANA 
POLLIANA CN. ALLEI NIGIDI MAI 

LOCANTUR EX K[alendis] iulis prtmis tabernae 

CUM PERGULIS SUIS ET CENACULA 

EQUESTRIA ET DOMUS. CONDUCTOR 

CONVENITO PRIMUM, CN. ALLEI 

NIGIDI MAI SER[vum]. 

'To rent, from the first day of next July, shops with the floors 
over them, fine upper chambers, and a house, in the Arrius 
Pollio block owned by Gnaeus Alleius Nigidius Mains. Pro- 
spective lessees may apply to Primus, slave of Gnaeus Alleius 
Nigidius Mains.' 

The word equestria, translated 'fine,' is used colloquially with 
cenacida, in the sense * fit for a knight.' The Insula named 
after Arrius Pollio was thought by Fiorelli to be the so-called 
house of Pansa, across the street from the block on which the 
advertisement was found. The identification may be correct, 



490 POMPEII 

but a notice painted in so prominent a place might refer to a 
block in any part of the city. 

The following inscription was found in the last century near 
the Amphitheatre, on a wall of the extensive establishment 
named from it the villa of Julia FeHx : — 

IN PRAEDIS lULIAE SP. F. FELICIS 
LOCANTUR 

BALNEUM VENERIUM ET NONGENTUM, TABERNAE, PERGULAE, 

CENACULA EX IDIBUS AUG. PRIMIS IN IDUS AUG. SEXTAS, ANNOS 
CONTINUOS QUINQUE 

S. Q. D. L. E. N. C. 

* To let, for the space of five years, from the thirteenth day of 
next August to the thirteenth day of the sixth August there- 
after, the Venus bath, fitted up for the best people, shops, rooms 
over shops, and second story apartments in the property owned 
by Julia FeHx, daughter of Spurius.' 

The bath may have received its name from Venus Pompeiana. 
The word nongentiun is difficult to understand. The interpreta- 
tion given is based upon a passage of Pliny the Elder, from 
which we understand that in colloquial language the knights 
were known as 'the nine hundred.' A bath 'of the nine hun- 
dred ' would then be one designed to attract the patronage of 
the best people. The seven letters at the end of the inscription 
have not yet been satisfactorily explained. 

Advertisements of articles lost or found are also met with. 
A notice in regard to a stray horse, painted on one of the tombs 
east of the Amphitheatre, is given on p. 436. On the east 
vSide of Insula VIII. v.-vi. we read: — 

VRNA AENIA PEREIT • DE • TABERNA 

SEIQVIS • RETTVLERIT DABVNTVR 

HS LXV . SEI • FVREM 
DABIT . VND . . . 

' A copper pot has been taken from this shop. Whoever brings 
it back will receive 65 sesterces. If any one shall hand over the 
thief ' . . . (the rest of the inscription is illegible). 



CHAPTER LVII 

THE GRAFFITI 

The grafifiti form the largest division of the Pompeian inscrip- 
tions, comprising about three thousand examples, or one half of 
the entire number ; the name is Italian, being derived from a 
verb meaning 'to scratch.' Writing upon walls was a prevalent 
habit in antiquity, as shown by the remains of graffiti at Rome 
and other places besides Pompeii, a habit which may be ac- 
counted for in part by the use of the sharp-pointed stylus with 
wax tablets ; the temptation to use such an instrument upon the 
polished stucco was much greater than in the case of pens and 
lead pencils upon the less carefully finished wall surfaces of our 
time. Pillars or sections of wall are covered with scratches of 
all kinds, — names, catchwords of favorite lines from the poets, 
amatory couplets, and rough sketches, such as a ship, or the 
profile of a face. The skit, occasionally found on walls to-day, 

' Fools' names, like their faces, 
Are alwa3's seen in public places,' 

has its counterpart in the couplet preserved as a graffito both 
at Pompeii and at Rome : Admiror, paries, te non cccidisse rumis, 
Qui tot scriptoriim taedia stistincas, — 

^ Truly 'tis wonderful, Wall, that you have not fallen in ruins, 
Forced without murmur to bear the taint of so many hands.' 

Of a similar vein is a Greek line scratched upon a wall on the 
Palatine hill in Rome : ' Many persons have here written many 
things ; I alone refrained from writing.' 

Taken as a whole, the graffiti are less fertile for our knowledge 
of Pompeian life than might have been expected. The people 
with whom we should most eagerly desire to come into direct con- 
tact, the cultivated men and women of the ancient city, were 

491 



492 POMPEII 

not accustomed to scratch their names upon stucco or to confide 
their reflections and experiences to the surface of a wall. Some 
of the graffiti, to judge from the height at which we find them 
above the floor, were undoubtedly made by the hands of boys 
and girls ; for the rest, we may assume that the writers were as 
little representative of the best elements of society as are the 
tourists who scratch or carve their names upon ancient monu- 
ments to-day. Nevertheless, we gain from these scribblings a 
lively idea of individual tastes, passions, and experiences. 

A few graffiti have reference to events, as the siege of Sulla, 
in 89 B.C. (p. 240). The most interesting historical examples 
are those which relate to the conflict between the Pompeians 
and the Nucerians, in the year 59 a.d. (p. 220). An ardent 
Pompeian wrote : Niiceriuis infelicia, — ' Down with the Nuce- 
rians ! ' From a scribbling by a partisan of the other side it 
appears that the inhabitants of PuteoU sympathized with the 
Nucerians, while those of Pithecusae — the island of Ischia — 
favored the Pompeians : Piitcolanis feliciter, omnibus NucJieriiiis 
felicia, et imcu\j}i\ Pompeianis \_et\ Pitecusanis, — 'Hurrah for 
the Puteolaneans, good luck to all Nucerians ; a hook for the 
Pompeians and Pithecusans \ ' The hook referred to in this 
connection was that used by executioners and the attendants of 
the Amphitheatre in dragging off the dead. Another Pompeian 
wrote : Cainpa7ii, victoria una cum Nucerinis peristis, — * Campa- 
nians, you were conquered by the same victory with the Nu- 
cerians.' The Campani were not the inhabitants of Campania, 
but of the suburb called Pagus Campanus. 

Two inscriptions, attesting the presence of members of the 
Praetorian Guard in Pompeii, have been previously mentioned 
(pp. 387, 401). Another praetorian left his name in a house of 
the eighth Region (VIII. iii. 21): Sex. Decimius Rufus milis 
co/i\_ortis'] V pr\_aetoi'ianae~\ J Martialis, — * Sextus Decimius 
Rufus, a soldier of the fifth praetorian cohort, of the century led 
by Martialis.' To the same division of the army probably be- 
longed a centurion of the first rank, Q. Spurennius Prisons, 
whose name was found in a house of the first Region (I. iii. 3). 
The first, fifth, and ninth praetorian cohorts, mentioned in- the 
graffiti, may have come to Pompeii with different emperors, or 



THE GRAFFITI 493 

on different occasions with the same emperor ; it is unUkely that 
the three were united to form a single escort. 

Graffiti are sometimes useful for the identification of build- 
ings ; so in the case of the Basilica and of several inns. The 
dated examples throw some light on the age of the stucco on 
which they are found. They are for the most part late, and 
afford little help in determining the time of commencement of the 
various decorative styles ; but in several cases they indicate a later 
Hmit clearly. In this way we learn that the decoration of the 
Basilica, in the first style, was finished before October 3, y8 B.C. 
— how long before we cannot tell; and that in 37 b.c. the plas- 
tering of the Small Theatre was already on the walls, decorated 
in the second style. The gladiatorial graffito in the house of 
the Centenary (p. 226) proves that the decoration of the room in 
which it is found — a late example of the second style — was 
finished before November, a.d. 15. A dated inscription of the 
reign of Nero is given in the chapter on the house of the Silver 
Wedding (p. 305). 

Several hundred graffiti present merely the name of the scrib- 
bler, sometimes with the addition /nc fuit, — ' was here,' or sim- 
ply Jiic ; as, PujHs Jiic fiiit, SabiiiiLS hie. 

A large number contain a greeting, perhaps in some cases 
intended for the eye of the person mentioned, as Aemilius For- 
tnnato fratri saluteni, — 'Aemilius greets his brother Fortunatus.' 
In this as in other examples it is interesting to note that one 
brother is designated by the gens name, the other by the cogno- 
men. Sometimes the greeting is the reverse of cordial, as in this 
instance : Samius Cornelio, suspeiidere, — 'Samius to Cornelius : 
go hang yourself.' Hardly less nai've is the message to a friend 
who has died : PyrrJius Chio conlegae sal\}item'\ : moleste fero, 
quod audivi te inortuom ; itaq\jie\ vale, — * Pyrrhus to his 
chum Chius : I'm sorry to hear that you are dead; and so, 
Good-by.' 

The most prominent theme of the grafiiti is love, which is 
constantly reappearing, in prose scribblings and in snatches of 
verse. The verse form is usually the elegiac distich. Some 
of the lines are taken from the poets ; others were made up 
for the occasion, and not a few verses were finished in prose, 



494 POMPEII 

as if the would-be versifier found original composition more dif- 
ficult than he had anticipated. 

Several distichs extol the power of love, as the following, 
which, taken from some unknown poet, is found in several 
places : Quisqins ainat, valeat, pereat qid nescit amare ; Bis tanto 
pereat qinsqiiis amare vetat : — 

' Good health be with you, lovers all ; 

Who knows not how to love, be cursed ; 
But oh may double ruin fall 

On him who sets out love to worst! ' 

A similar thought finds expression in a single line, perhaps also 
a quotation : Nemo est belhis nisi qui amavit mtilierem, — * He 
who has never been in love can be no gentleman.' 

Not all the Pompeians, however, viewed the matter so seri- 
ously. To the first line of the couplet just quoted a scribbler of 
a cynical turn in one instance joined a parody, to the effect that 
those who are in love may well avoid the use of hot baths, on 
the principle that 'the burnt child dreads the fire,' — Nam 
nem.0 flammas ustus amare potest. 

The uselessness of interference with the course of love is also 
made prominent. In this distich, apparently from some poet, 
the scribbler seems to have made a slight change to meet a 
specific case, substituting obiurgat for ciistodit or some similar 
word : Alliget hie auras, si quis obiitrgat amantes, Et vetat 
assiduas currere foiitis aquas, — 

^Whoever has a mind 
To hinder lovers' way, 
Let him go zephyrs bind 
Or running waters stay.' 

Ancient lovers nevertheless had their fears, and the follow- 
ing couplet, which is no doubt borrowed from a poet, appears 
also, in a slightly different form, on a wall in Rome : Si quis 
forte meam cupiet violare puellam, Ilium in desertis montibus 

urat Amor, — 

'If any man shall seek 

My girl from me to turn, 
On far-off mountains bleak 

May Love the scoundrel burn.' 



THE GRAFFITI 495 

Of extant elegiac poets Ovid, Propertius, and Tibullus are 
quoted or paraphrased. Among the quotations is the familiar 
couplet of Propertius : Nunc est ira recens, nunc est discedere 
tempus ; Si dolor afuerit, crede, redibit amor, — 

^Now is it time to depart, 

Now anger freshly burns ; 
When one ceases to feel the smart, 
Believe me, love returns.' 

If it was written by a lover after a quarrel, reconciliation was 
not far off. Another discouraged suitor perhaps consoled him- 
self by writing on the wall of the Basilica this distich from 
Ovid's ''Art of Love," the form of which differs slightly from 
that given in the manuscripts : Quid pote tarn dunnn saxso aut 
quid mollius unda ? Dura tamen niolli saxsa cavantur aqua, — 

' What is so hard as rock, or what can be softer than water ? 
Hard rocks nevertheless by water are worn away.' 

Amatory inscriptions often have the form of a message or 
greeting to a loved one, as in this example : Victoria, vale, et 
ubique es, suaviter sternutes, — ' Health to you, Victoria, and 
wherever you are may you sneeze sweetly,' that is, may good 
luck follow you. Often the greeting is more ardent, as that to 
Cestilia : Cestilia, regina Pompeiajiortim, anima dulcis, vale, — 
* Cestilia, queen of the Pompeians, sweet soul, greeting to you.' 

Sometimes the lover avoided writing the lady's name : Pupa 
quae bella es, tibi me misit qui tuus est ; vale, — 'Maiden who 
are so beautiful, he who is yours sent me to you; good-by.' 
Now and then we find an inscription of this class that leaves an 
unfavorable impression. The following is repeated several times 
on the outside of a house in the first Region : Serenae sodales 
sal\_?itenf\, — * Greeting to Serena, from her companions ! ' 

Spurned lovers also confided their woes to graffiti, sometimes 
adding an appeal to the obdurate one, as in this wretched coup- 
let, which can scarcely have been taken from a poet ; the play 
upon words in the last clause was apparently intentional : Si 
quid amor valeat nostei, sei te Jwmine^n scis, Commiseresce mihi, 
da veniam ut veniam, — 



496 . POMPEII 

' If you a man would be, — 

If you know what love can do, — 
Have pity, and suffer me 
With welcome to come to you/ 

It was probably a lover in straits who scratched on the wall a 
line of the Aeneid (IX. 404) as a prayer to Venus : 7>/, dea^ tu 
praesens nostra siiccurre lahori, — 

' Thou, goddess, with thy present help 
Our sore distress relieve.' 

Another unsuccessful suitor found the lines of a single poet 
inadequate to express his feelings, and joined together a couplet 
from Ovid (Am. I. viii. 77-7^) and one from Propertius (IV. v. 
47-48) in order to voice his complaint against a miserly mistress 
who barred her door upon all except wealthy lovers. But the 
climax is reached in four lines of irregular verse in which the 
rejected lover proposes to vent his anger on the goddess of 
love herself : * All lovers, come ! I purpose to break the ribs of 
Venus and to smash the small of her back with clubs ; if she can 
bore a hole in my tender breast, why can I not break her head 
with a cudgel .^ ' From the psychological point of view the 
complete identification of the goddess with a statue represent- 
ing her is noteworthy. 

Occasionally a pair of lovers left on a wall a record of a meet- 
ing; thus, Ronutla Jiic ciun StapJiylo vwratm\ — ' Romula tarried 
here with Staphylus.' Staphylus, however, was apparently a 
flirt ; in the house of Caecilius Jucundus a similar meeting with 
another maiden is recorded on a column of the peristyle : StapJii- 
lus hie cicm Qiiieta. But Staphylus does not seem to have gained 
the confidence of the fair sex to the extent that another Pompeian 
gallant did, of whom we find it written : Restitntiis mjiltas de- 
cepit saepe piiellas^ — ' Restitutus has many times deceived many 
girls.' 

The names of husband and wife are sometimes joined together, 
as in a room of a house in the ninth Region : L. Clodiiis Vams, 
Pelagia co7iiinix ; there is a similar example in a house ruined 
by the earthquake of the year 63, \^Ba\lbits et Fortitnata, duo 
coiuzes. 



THE GRAFFITI 497 

We find a pleasing instance of marital affection in a graffito 
in which a lonely wife sends a greeting to an absent husband 
and other relatives : Hirtia Psacas C. Hostilio Conopi coningi 
sjw manudiictori et dementi moriitori et Diodot\ji\e sorori ct For- 
tiinato fratri et Celeri siiis salutein semper iibique pliirimam, et 
Primigeniae suae saiutem, — ' Hirtia Psacas at all times and in 
all places sends heartiest greeting to Gains Hostilius Conops, her 
husband and guide and gentle adviser, and to her sister Diodota, 
her brother Fortunatus and her Celer ; and she sends a greeting 
to her Primigenia, too.' The names of both husband and wife 
are GvQok, psaeas signifying ' dewdrop,' and conops ' gnat.' 

Many happenings are chronicled on the walls ; and there are 
memoranda of every description. The programmes of gladia- 
torial combats have already been mentioned (p. 223). One man 
records the result of a trip to Nuceria, where he won at the 
gaming table — without cheating, he takes pains to add — a 
sum amounting to $130: Vict Nnceriae in alia (for alea) 
)( DCCCLVS, fide bona, — 'At Nuceria, I won 855.5 denarii 
by gaming, fair play.' 

Another Pompeian counted the steps as he walked up and 
down the colonnade at the side of his garden (in the house VIL 
ii. 41) for exercise; he recorded 640 paces for ten turns back 
and forth. 

In the peristyle of a house in the first Region the advent of 
young pigs, or of puppies, is noted: XV K\_alendas'] Nov- 
\embres'\ Puteolana peperit 7nase/\^os^ III, femel\as'\ II, — ' On 
October 17 Puteolana had a litter consisting of 3 males and 2 
females.' 

The inscriptions relating to business transactions are reserved 
for another chapter. We may notice here, however, that 
memoranda of accounts were sometimes scratched on walls, 
usually containing only the figures indicating measure or price, 
as in the shops on the south side of the Macellum. The fol- 
lowing is from a bakery in the first Region (I. iii. 27): Oleum, 
l\ibra~\, a\jsibns'\ IV ; palea a. V ; faenum a. XVI ; diaria a. 
V ; fnrfnre a. VI ; viria la. Ill ; oleum a. VI, — 'Oil, a pound, 
4 asses; straw, 5 asses; hay, 16 asses; a day's wages, 5 asses; 
bran, 6 asses; one wreath for the neck, 3 asses; oil, 6 asses.' 



498 POMPEII 

The value of the as varied ; in the Early Empire it was nearly 
equivalent to i^ pence, or 3 cents. 

Children scratched upon walls the alphabet that they were 
learning. The frequent quotations from Virgil, generally in- 
complete, are likewise an echo of lessons at school, where this 
author was carefully studied ; we find very often the beginnings 
of lines at the opening of a book, as Anna virmnqtte cano, or 
Conticicere omnes. The first word of the poem of Lucretius, 
Aeneadimi, also occurs several times. 

Occasionally gnomic quotations are found, in most cases, 
perhaps, from writers of comedy. Among them is the well- 
known maxim, Miniimnn inalnvi fit conteimiendo maxnmiini, — 
' The smallest evil, if neglected, will reach the greatest propor- 
tions.' A proverb more concrete in its form of statement is the 
following : Moram si quaeres, sparge miliitm et coliige, — ' If you 
want to waste your time, scatter millet and pick it up again.' 



CHAPTER LVIII 

INSCRIPTIONS RELATING TO BUSINESS A TEA IRS 

The most important inscriptions relating to business transac- 
tions are the receipts, discovered in 1875, which formed a part 
of the private accounts of L. CaeciUus Jucundus (p. 447). They 
were written on wax tablets, which were carefully packed in a 
wooden box. The box, which was in the second story of the 
house, crumbled to pieces when the volcanic dust about it was 
removed ; but many of the tablets, 1 54 in number, still retained 
their shape and were taken to the Naples Museum. The wood 
of the tablets had turned to charcoal, but the writing has been 
for the most part deciphered. One receipt dates from 15 a.d., 
another from the year 27 ; the rest belong to the decade imme- 
diately preceding the earthquake, 52-62 a.d. The documents 
are of the greatest interest as casting Hght on the business 
methods of antiquity. 

Most of the tablets are triptychs. The three leaves were tied 
at the back so as to open like the leaves of a book, making six 
pages (Fig. 274). The average height is about 5 inches, the 
width varies from 2 to 4 inches. Pages i and 6 served as 
covers, being left smooth and without writing. Pages 2, 3, and 
5 were hollowed out, leaving a polished surface with a raised 
rim around it. On this surface a thin layer of wax was spread, 
in which the letters were made with a stylus ; the writing could 
be easily read because the wood, which was of a Hght color, 
showed through wherever a scratch was made in the wax 
coating. 

Two pages facing each other, 2 and 3, were devoted to the 
receipt. Page 4, as shown in Fig. 275, was not hollowed out 
but was divided into two parts by a broad, flat groove running 
across the middle. When the document was ready to be sealed, 
the first two leaves were brought together and tied by a thread 

499 



506 



POMPEII 



which passed around the middle, the ends meeting in the groove 
on page 4. In this groove at convenient distances melted wax 
"was then dropped, on which the witnesses, ordinarily seven in 
number, impressed their seals. The names of the witnesses 
were written with pen and ink in a line with the seals, parallel 
with the sides of the page, sometimes at the right, as in Fig. 275, 




Fig. 274. — Tablet with three leaves, opened so as to show the receipt and part of the 
memorandum on page 5, restored. 



sometimes divided, the first name and the gens name being at 
the left of the seal, the cognomen at the right. 

This arrangement made it impossible to consult the receipt 
without cutting the thread or disturbing the seals of the wit- 
nesses. To meet the difficulty a memorandum, which was prac- 
tically a dupUcate receipt, was placed on page 5 ; this could be 
read at any time. 

The difference in form between the receipt, on pages 2 and 3, 
and the memorandum will be plain from the examples. The 
receipt, with few exceptions, is simply a record of an oral ac- 



RECEIPTS OF CAECILIUS JUCUNDUS 



50^ 



knowledgment in the presence of witnesses that a sum of money 
was received, accept! latio. In nearly all the tablets this ac- 
knowledgment and the names of the witnesses, on page 4, are 
in the same handwriting, which must have been either that of 
Jucundus himself or of his secretary. It did not matter who 
wrote the receipt ; in case of a dispute the seals of the wit- 
nesses would alone be sufficient to prove its genuineness. The 
memorandum, however, was ordinarily in a different hand, 








Fig. 275. — Tablet, restored, with the two leaves containing the receipt tied and sealed, and 
with the signatures of the witnesses at the right of the seals. 

either that of the person who gave the receipt, or of some one 
authorized to write for him. As it was not under the seals of 
witnesses, the handwriting might become a matter of importance 
if any question should arise in regard to the document. 

The entire tablet, with its receipt, memorandum, and names 
and seals of witnesses was called /rr^vrrz///^, 'entry of account.' 
This word appears ordinarily on the edge of the tablet, with the 
name of the person who gave the receipt in the genitive case. 

Nearly all the tablets record transactions connected with auc- 
tion sales, the person whose effects were thus disposed of giving 



502 POMPEII 

JucLindus a receipt in full for the proceeds of the sale less a com- 
mission, niercede minus. A few contain receipts for rent which 
Jucundus paid for the use of property belonging to the city — a 
fullery (p. 394), the rent of which altogether amounted to 1652 
sesterces, about $75 ; a pasture, for the use of which he paid 2675 
sesterces, about $130; and a piece of arable Idind, fundjiSy on 
which he paid 6000 sesterces, about $300, in rents. 

We present an example of both classes of receipts. The 
first, which we may call Tablet A, was given by a lady, Umbri- 
cia Januaria, for the proceeds of an auction sale ; it is dated 
December 12, a.d. 56. The other, Tablet B, is the receipt for 
the rent of public pasture land and belongs to the year 59 a.d. 

TABLET A 

Title 

Perscriptio Umbriciae Januariae, ' Entry of account of Um- 
bricia Januaria.' 

Receipt. Pages 2 and 3 

HS n. CC I DD 00 XXXVIIII, quae pecunia in stipulatum L. 
Caecili lucundi venit ob auctiojieui Umbriciae lanuariae mercede 
miiius persoluta Jiabere se dixit Umbricia Januaria ab L. Caecilio 
lucundo. 

Act\um~\ Pompeis pr\idie'\ id \_?is~\ Dec\_embrcs\ L. Duvio, 
P. Clodio COS. 

* Umbricia Januaria declared that she had received from L. 
Caecilius Jucundus 11,039 sesterces, which sum came into the 
hands of L. Caecilius Jucundus by agreement as the proceeds 
of an auction sale for Umbricia Januaria, the commission due 
him having been deducted. 

' Done at Pompeii on the twelfth day of December, in the 
consulship of Lucius Duvius and Publius Clodius.' 

Names of the Witnesses. Page 4 

The seals of the witnesses, nine in number, appear in the 
groove at the middle of the page. The names are in the geni- 
tive case, as if dependent on sigillufu, 'seal.' 



RECEIPTS OF CAECILIUS JUCUNDUS 503 

Q. Appjilci Severi. M. Epidi Hymenaei. 

M. Lucreti Levi. Q. Grani Lesbi. 

Ti. luli Abascanti. T. Vesoni Le. . . , 

M. lull Crescentis. D. Void Thalli, 
M. Terenti Pinnii. 

' Seal of Quintus Appuleius Severus, Marcus Lucretius Lerus, 
Tiberius Julius Abascantus, M. Julius Crescens, M. Terentius 
Primus, M. Epidius Hymenaeus, Q. Granius Lesbus, Titus Ve- 
sonius Le. . . . , D. Volcius Thallus.' 

Memorandum. Page 5 

L. Dtivio Avito, P. Clodio Thrasea cos., pr. id. Decembr. D. 
VolciiLS Thallus scrips! rogatit Unibriciae laniiariae earn accepisse 
ab L. Caecilio IiLciindo HS 11. XI xxxix ex aiictione eiiis mercede 
minus ex intei'vogatione facta tabellai'um {signatarinn^ Act. 
Pompeis. 

' On December 12, in the consulship of Lucius Duvius Avitus 
and Publius Clodius Thrasea, I, Decimus Volcius Thallus, 
having examined the tablets put under seal, at the request of 
Umbricia Januaria declared in writing that she had received 
from L. Caecilius Jucundus 11,039 sesterces as the proceeds 
of an auction sale after deducting his commission. Done at 
Pompeii.' 

Tablet A gives the ordinary form of the receipt and the memo- 
randum. There are occasional variations. A few tablets have 
only two leaves and four pages. In such cases, the leaves are 
tied and sealed in the same way as the first two of the triptych, 
but only half of the fourth page is left for the signatures of the 
witnesses ; the memorandum is written on the other half with 
pen and ink, and so appears on the outside of the tablet. 

In two of the older tablets, dated 27 and 54 a.d., the memo- 
randum, as the receipt, is a record of an oral acknowledgment ; 
it may be that this was the proper legal form in use to the end 
of the reign of Claudius. In a few of the later examples, as 
Tablet B, the receipt as well as the memorandum has the form 
of a voucher in the handwriting of the person who receives the 
money, or his agent. 



504 POMPEII 

TABLET B 

Receipt. Pages 2 and 3 

L. Veranio Hupsaeo, L. Albncio lusto diiitinvhis iure dic\_uiido~\ 
XI I 11 K\_alendas^ lulias Privatiis coloniac Po7npeian\orum'\ 
ser\yiis'\ scrip si nie accepisse ab L. Caecilio Incundo sestertios 
mille sescentos septiiaginta quinqiie rmvimos, et accepi ante hanc 
diem, qiiae dies f nit VIII idus Imiias, sester\tios'\ mille mimmos, 
oh vectigal publicum pasqua \iox pasqiiorum\ 

Act\iim'\ Poin\peis'\ Cn. Fonteio C. Vipstano cos. 

' On June 18, in the duumvirate of L. Veranius Hypsaeus and 
L. Albucius Justus, I, Privatus, slave of the colony of Pompeii, 
declared in writing that I had received from L. Caecilius Jucun- 
dus 1675 sesterces, and previous to this day, on June 6, I re- 
ceived 1000 sesterces, as rent for the public pasture. 

' Done at Pompeii in the consulship of Gnaeus Fonteius and 
Gains Vipstanus.' 

Names of the Witnesses. Page 4 
In the groove in the middle of the page are four seals. As the 
receipt was given for the city, the witnesses were the two duum- 
virs and the slave Privatus, who received the money. The name 
of Privatus appears twice with seal, under that of each duumvir. 
In antiquity municipahties, as well as individuals, owned slaves. 

L. Verani Hypsaei 

Pj'ivati, c. c. V. C. ser. (for colonorum coloniae Ve- 

neriae Conieliae servi) 
L. Albiici lusti 
Privati, c. c. V. C. se. 

Chirogmphnm Privati c. c. V. C. ser. 

' Seal of Lucius Veranius Hypsaeus ; Privatus, slave of the 
citizens of the colony of Pompeii ; L. Albucius lustus ; Privatus, 
slave of the citizens of the colony of Pompeii. 

'Autograph of Privatus, slave of the citizens of the colony of 
Pompeii.' 

Memorandum. Page 5 

L. Veranio Hupsaeo I. Albucio lusto d[uumviris'] i\_?nr'] 
d\icu}ido~\ XIV K. lul. Privatus c. c. V. C. ser. seripsi me acce- 



INSCRIPTIONS UPON AMPHORAE 505 

pisse ab L. Caecilio lucundo HS 00 DCLXXV ct accepi ante hanc 
diem VIII idus hmias HS 00 nnuimos ob vectigal publicum 
pasquoriuH. 

Act. Pom. C. Fouteio C. Vips. cos. 

The language of the memorandum is so nearly identical with 
that of the receipt that it is unnecessary to add a translation. 

A considerable number of the amphorae found at Pompeii 
bear inscriptions, generally written with a pen in black ink, 
but sometimes painted with a brush in red or white. Most 
of them contained wine. The percentage of Greek inscriptions 
is large, an evidence of the strength of the Greek population in 
the region about the city. 

The wine underwent fermentation in large round vats of 
baked clay, dolia, which stood in the wine cellar of the villa, 
cella vi7taria, or in a court (p. 364); from these the amphorae 
were filled. The vats containing the common wines were ordi- 
narily emptied before the next vintage, when they were needed 
for the new wine, but the better sorts were allowed to remain in 
the dolia for a longer time. The wine of one Pompeian am- 
phora was left in the vat till after the harvest of the second year : 
C. Pomponio C. Anicio cos., ex fund\d\ Badiano, diff\_usum'] id. 
Aug., biuium, — 'Consulship of Gains Pomponius and Gains 
Anicius. From the Badian estate. Poured (into amphorae) 
August 13. Two years old.' In what year Pomponius and 
Anicius were consuls we do not know. 

The earliest amphora of which the date is certain was filled 
in 25 A.D. : [^Cosso Len'\tulo M. Asinio cos. fund. The place from 
which it came, however, is not so easily determined, since fund. 
may refer to the town of F'undi, or stand iox fundus, 'estate,' 
the name that followed having been obliterated. The names 
of two such estates were lately recovered from amphorae in the 
house of the \[q,V(\\, fundus Satrianus ^exxd. fundus Asinianus. 

In addition to the product of Itahan vineyards the Pompeians 
used also imported wines from the coast of Asia Minor and the 
islands near by. One dealer, M. Fabius Euporus, kept wine 
from Cnidus, Cuidiuui. Wine from the island of Cos is fre- 



5o6 POMPEII 

quently mentioned, as in this inscription : Count vet{jLs'\ P. Ap- 
pidei Bassi, — ' Old Coan of Publius Appuleius Bassus.' 

Different kinds of wine were sometimes designated by char- 
acteristic names. A certain Greek, M. Pomponius Teupon, 
produced a brand which he called * Frenzy Wine ' (Avrrto?), 
as if so strong that it would make the drinker frantic. Another 
Greek, Timarchus, named one of his wines ' White Drink,' 

An amphora in the house of the Vettii was labelled Gusta- 
ticium, ' Breakfast Drink ' ; it no doubt contained imilsum^ a 
kind of mead made by mixing honey with wine, which the 
ancients drank with the first meal of the day. The word 
imdsum occurs on another amphora discovered previously. 

Fruits and other edibles of all kinds were kept in amphorae. 
On one was written : Oliva alba diilce (for olivae albae dulces) 
P. C. E.y — 'White sweet olives of P. C. E. ' ; the name cannot 
be determined from the initials. On other amphorae the words 
for bean meal {Jomentum\ honey, and lentils appear, the last 
being designated by the Greek word. 

A large number of small jars contained the fish sauces, — 
garuin, liquamen^ and muria, — of which the ancients were so 
fond ; reference has already been made to Umbricius Scaurus 
(p. 15), who seems to have had several estabhshments for the 
making of the sauces, conducted by slaves, freedmen, and per- 
haps by members of his family. 

The best quality of garum, which was probably a thick 
preparation, a kind of fish jelly, was designated by the letters 
g. f., for garum — Jlos, 'garum blossom,' as in the following 
inscription: g\_arin}i\ — f\Jos'\ scombr\r\ Scauri ah Eutyche 
Scauri, — ' Scaurus's tunny jelly, blossom brand, put up by 
Eutyches, slave of Scaurus.' We frequently find liqitameii op- 
timum, 'best liquamen.' 

The muria was apparently a fish pickle, certain parts of the 
fish, or certain varieties, being preserved in brine. According 
to PUny the Elder some fish sauces were prepared in a special 
way, to be used by the Jews on fast days ; two of these, as 
already noted, appear in the inscriptions upon Pompeian jars, 
garum castum and mtiria casta (p. 18). 



STAMPS 507 

In these inscriptions upon jars of various sizes the name of 
the proprietor is sometimes given, in the genitive case, as M. 
Caesi Celeris, — * Of M. Caesius Celer.' The name of the man 
to whom the consignment is made is put in the dative, as Albu- 
cio Celso. 

The name of the consignor sometimes follows that of the 
consignee, as liquamen optimum A. Vimio Modesto ab Aga- 
thopode, — * Best liquamen, for Aulus Virnius Modestus, from 
Agathopus.' 

An inscription similar to that just mentioned, on an amphora 
found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus, illustrates the extent 
to which family pride might assert itself in the naming of chil- 
dren : Caecilio Iiicundo ab Sexsto Metello, — * To Caecilius Jucun- 
dus from Sextus Metellus.' The sender and the recipient were 
both sons of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus. According to common 
usage, one of the sons w^ould have received the name Lucius 
Caecilius Jucundus, after the father ; while the other would have 
been called Lucius Caecilius, with a cognomen derived perhaps 
from the name of the mother. But the prosperous Pompeian 
wished to suggest a relationship with the distinguished family 
of the Caecilii Metelli, so he named one son Sextus Caecilius 
Jucundus Metellus, and the other Quintus Caecilius Jucundus, 
the name Quintus being common in the family of the Caecilii 
MetelU. The names of the two sons are found together in an 
election notice : Q. S. Caecili IiLCimdi, — ' Quintus and Sextus 
Caecilius Jucundus.' 

Besides the names of the makers, inscriptions relating to 
weight and ownership are found on the cups and other objects 
of the Boscoreale treasure. Thus on the under side of the 
Alexandria patera (Fig. 187, and p. 380) we find the following 
record, the letters of which are outlined with points : PJii\j:ila\ 
et emb\Jema\ p\_e7ide}itia\ p\ondo libras~\ II, imcias X, scriipida 
VI. Phi\_ald\ pSjndens^ p\ondo libras\ II, tincias II, 
semunciani ; emb \Jcina\ p \_cndcns~\ p \_ondo~\ nncias VII, sem 
itnciam, 'The bowl and the relief medalHon ' together Sveigh 
2 pounds, 10 ounces, and 6 scruples. The bowl weighs 2 
pounds, 2\ ounces ; the relief medalHon weighs 'j\ ounces.' 
In giving the items separately no account was taken of the 



5o8 POxMPEII 

scruples. Reckoning the Roman pound as 327.453 grammes, 
the weight of the patera with its relief was 934.608 grammes, or 
2.504 Troy pounds. This differs from the present weight by 
less than a gramme. 

Occasionally a name in the genitive case is found with the 
record of weight, written with the same kind of letters ; in such 
cases it is probably safe to assume that the name is that of the 
original owner. On the under side of one of the pair of cups 
ornamented with skeletons (Fig. 217) is the inscription : GAVIAE 
P- II -Sell II; a later hand, writing with a fine point, added 
VAS II in the space after GAVIAE, as if to supply an obvious 
omission, so that the inscription in full would read, Gaviae. 
Vas\_a\ II \_pendentid\ p\ondo libras'\ II, uncias VIII, \_scni- 
p2ila\ I V, ' The property of Gavia. The two cups weigh 2 
pounds, 8 ounces, and 4 scruples' (2.351 Troy pounds). 

In some instances the name of a later owner has been scratched 
on the surface with a pointed tool. The name of a woman. 
Maxima, written in full or in abbreviation, appears on forty-five 
of the pieces in the Louvre. We may safely accept the con- 
clusion of De Villefosse, that she is probably the one who made 
the collection, obtaining her specimens from different sources, 
and that to her the Boscoreale treasure belonged at the time of 
the eruption. 

Besides the seals which were used in signing documents the 
Romans had stamps, signacida, which they impressed upon 
various articles as a means of identification or as an advertise- 
ment. Impressions of such stamps are found upon bricks and 
other objects of clay, and in one or two instances upon loaves 
of bread. Several charred loaves in the Naples Museum have 
the stamp: \_C'\clcris Q. Grani Veri ser., — '(Made by) Celer, 
slave of Quintus Granius Verus.' 

The names upon stamps appear regularly in the genitive case, 
as N. Popidi Prisci, spelled backward on the stamp, so that the 
letters appear in the right order in the impression. Since the 
time of Fiorelli many houses have been named from the stamps 
found in them ; in the house of the Vettii, for example, two 
stamps were found with the names of Aulus Vettius Restitutus 
and Aulus Vettius Conviva. 



CONCLUSION 
CHAPTER LIX 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POMPEIAN CULTURE 

The ideals of a nation — the true index of its culture — find 
expression alike in its laws, its literature, its art, and the environ- 
ment of daily life. They are a common heritage, which one 
generation passes on to another with its own increment of change, 
and their influence extends as far as that of the people whose 
spirit is manifested in them. Thus it happens that the con- 
ditions of culture found in a single city, unless that city, as 
Athens, had an independent development as a state, are not 
isolated but are determined in the main by general movements 
and tendencies, and are reproduced, with local differences, in all 
places having the same racial and political connections. The 
local element was more pronounced and more characteristic in 
ancient than in modern cities ; yet, unless the surroundings were 
exceptionably favorable, we should not be warranted in expect- 
ing to find in a small city an isolated development of special sig- 
nificance in art or taste. Pompeii forms no exception to the 
rule. 

The situation of Pompeii was unfavorable to the growth of an 
indigenous culture. Founded by Samnites, a primitive folk, it 
lay in the overlapping edges of two great zones of influence, 
Greek and Roman. It was a small town, which never rose to 
the dignity even of a provincial capital. It was a seaport, which 
through marine traffic kept in touch with other cities, especially 
those of the East, from which fashions of art, religion, and life 
travelled easily westward. The political institutions of the Pom- 
peians were at first those which they shared in common with 
the Samnite and Oscan cities of the mountains and the Cam- 

509 



5IO POMPEII 

panian plain, later those imposed upon them by the forceful and 
levelling administration of Rome. The literature which they 
read, as we learn from quotations scratched upon the walls, 
consisted of the Greek and Roman writers of their own or pre- 
vious periods ; not a single line of an Oscan drama or poem 
has been found. Their art was a reproduction of designs and 
masterpieces produced elsewhere, — at first under Hellenistic, 
later under Roman influence, — on a scale commensurate with 
the limited resources of the place. Finally the countless appli- 
ances of everyday life, from the fixed furniture of the atrium to 
articles of toilet, were not rare and costly objects such as were 
seen in the wealthy homes of Rome or Alexandria, but those of 
the commoner sort everywhere in use. Any one of fifty cities 
might have been overwhelmed in the place of Pompeii, and the 
results, so far as our knowledge of the ancient culture in its 
larger aspects is concerned, would not have been essentially 
different. 

The representative rather than exceptional character of the 
remains at Pompeii makes them either of less or of greater value, 
according as we look at them from different points of view. If 
we are seeking for the most perfect examples of ancient art, for 
masterpieces of the famous artists, we do not find them. Many 
of the Pompeian paintings appeal to modern taste ; yet it would 
be as unfair to judge of the merits of ancient painting from the 
specimens which are worked into the decorative designs of 
Pompeian walls as it would be to base an estimate of the value 
of modern art upon chromos and wall papers. For the noblest 
creations of ancient art in any field we must look not to provin- 
cial towns, but to the great centres of population and of political 
administration, where genius found encouragement, inspiration, 
and adequate means. No large city, fortunately for its inhab- 
itants, was visited by such a disaster as that which befell the 
Campanian town ; and the wealth of artistic types at Pompeii 
bears witness to the universality of art in the Greco-Roman 
world. 

Since these remains are so broadly typical, they are invaluable 
for the interpretation of the civilization of which they formed a 
part. They shed light on countless passages of Greek and 



CONCLUSION 5 1 1 

Roman writers. Literature, however, ordinarily records only 
that which is exceptional or striking, while here we find the 
surroundings of life as a whole, the humblest details being 
presented to the eye. 

Pompeii, as no other source outside the pages of classical 
authors, helps us to understand the ancient man. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX^ 



CHAPTER I. THE SITUATION OF POMPEII 

Physical geography of Campania^ Vesuvius: Nissen, Italische Landes- 
kunde, vol. I (Berlin, 1883), pp. 263-272 ; Phillips, Vesuvius (Oxford, 1869) ; 
G. VOM Rath, Der Vesuv (Berlin, 1873) ; Palmieri, II Vesuvio e la sua storia 
(Milan, 1880); Judd, Volcanoes (International Scientific Series, New York, 
i83i) ; LoBLEY, Mount Vesuvius — A Descriptive, Historical, and Geological 
Account of the Volcano and its Surroundings (London, 1889) ; Ruggiero, 
Delia eruzione del Vesuvio nelF anno lxxix, in the commemorative volume 
published under the title Pompei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio nelP anno 
LXXIX (Naples, 1879), PP- 15-32- 

Pompeii as a seaport [p. 3] : Strab. Geog. V. iv. 8 (p. 247). 

The seacoast and the Sarno in antiquity [p. 4] : Ruggiero, op. cit., pp. 
5-14; Mau, DelP antico lido del mare. Bull. delP Inst., 1880, pp. 89-92; 

1 An extensive collection of titles relating to Pompeii and Vesuvius is given by F. 
FURCHHEIM, Bibliografia di Pompei, Erculano e Stabia (Edit. 2, Naples, 1891) and 
Bibiiografia del Vesuvio (Naples, 1897). 

In the Bibliographical Appendix figures in brackets refer to the pages of this book. 
The following abbreviations are employed : — • 

Ann. deir Inst. = Annali dell' Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica (57 vols., Rome, 

1829-1885). 
Bull. com. = BuUettino della commissione archeologica communale di Roma (vols. 1-19, 

Rome, 1872-1901). 
Bull, deir Inst. = BuUettino dell' Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica (Rome, 1829- 

1885). 
C. I. L. = Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum (Berlin, 1863 ff.). 
Ephem. Epigr. = Ephemeris Epigraphica, corporis inscriptionum Latinarum supplemen- 

tuin (vols. 1-8, Berlin, 1872-1899). 
Jahrb. des Inst. = Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich deutschen archaologischen Instituts (vols. 

1-16, Berlin, 1885-1901). 
Mon. dei Lincei = Monumenti Antichi pubblicati per cura della Reale Accademia dei 

Lincei (Milano, vols, i-io, 1892-1901). 
Mon. deir Inst. = Monumenti inediti pubblicati dall' Instituto di corrispondenza archeo- 
logica (12 vols, and Supplements, Rome and Berlin, 1829-1891). 
Museo Borb. = Real Museo Borbonico (16 vols., Naples, 1824-1857). 
Not. d. scavi = Notizie degli scavi di antichita (Rome and Milan, 1876-1901). 
Pomp. ant. hist. = Pompeianarum antiquitatum historia quam . . . collegit . . . los. Fio- 

relli (3 vols., Naples, i860, 1862, 1864). 
Rhein. Mus. = Rheinisches Museum fiir Philologie (vols. 1-56, Frankfurt, 1842-1901). 
Rom. Mitth.= Mittheilungen des Kaiserlich deutschen archaologischen Instituts, Romi- 

sche Abtheilung (vols. 1-16, Rome, 1886-1901). 



514 POMPEII 

F. VON DuHN, Der Hafen von Pompei, Rhein. Mus., vol. 36 (1881). pp. 127- 
130, 632-634 ; Mau, Der Hafen von Pompeji, Rhein. Mus., vol. 36, pp. 326-328, 
and vol. 37 (1882), pp. 319-320. 

CHAPTER II. POMPEII BEFORE THE ERUPTION 

The founding of Pompeii [p. 8] : the question of the origin of the city is 
closely connected with that of the system of streets, for which see references 
to Chap. V, p. 517. 

Origin of the na7?ie [p. 8] : cf. F. von Duhn, Verhandlung der 34'^" 
Philologen-Versammlung (1880), p. 154; for pompe = quinque, cf. Buck, 
Der Vocalismus der Oskischen Sprache (Leipzig, 1892), pp. 118-119. The 
derivation of Pompeii from tto/u-ttt; (TrefXTrcLv) is assumed by Nissen, Pompe- 
janische Studien (Leipzig, 1877), p. 580; cf. also Sogliano, Rendiconto 
della Accademia di Archeologia, Nuova Serie, Naples, vol. 15 (1901), p. 115. 

The expedition of P. Cornelius [p. 9] : Li v. IX. xxxviii. 2-3. 

The siege of Sulla [p. 10] : Appian. Bel. Civ.. I. v. 39, vi. 50; Oros. V. 
XVIII. 22; Veil. Pater. II. xvi. 2. 

The Ponipeians and P. Sulla [p. 10] : Cic. Pro P. Sulla, xxi. 

Excavations near the Sarno canal [p. 10] : Not. d. scavi, 1880, pp. 494- 
498 ; 1 88 1, pp. 25-29, 64-66. For other evidence relating to the suburbs, see 
Nissen, Pompejanische Studien, p. 379: Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 4 (1889), 
pp. 299-300, 344. 

Inscriptions [p. 11] — referring to the Salinenses : C. I. L. IV. 1611 ; Not. 
d. scavi, 1884, p. 51. Referring to tlie Campanienses : C. I. L. IV. 470, 480, 
1216, 1293 [quoted p. 492], 2353 [p. 219]. 

Venus Pompeia7ia [p. 12] : Museo Borb., vol. 8, pi. 34; Helbig, Wand- 
gemalde der vom Vesuv verschlitteten Stadte Campaniens (Leipzig, 1868), 
no. 295 ; WISSOWA, De Veneris simulacris Romanis (Breslau, 1882), pp. 15- 
21 ; cf. also RossBACH, Vier Pompejanischen Wandbilder, Jahrb. des Inst, 
vol. 8 (1893), pp. 57-59 (no. 4)- 

Name of the Roman colony [p. 12] : known from inscriptions, as that of 
Holconius Rufus and Egnatius Postumus [p. 85], and the tablets of CaeciHus 
Jucundus, as 3340, cxliii. in C. I. L. IV. Suppl. i ; with the latter we may 
compare the abbreviation after the name of Privatus Qd. 504]. 

Civic administration [p. 12] : Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, 
vol. I (Edit. 2, Leipzig, 1881), pp. 132-215; C. I. L. X. pp. 90-93, IV. 
pp. 249-255; Willems, Les elections municipales a Pompei (Paris, 1886), 
and review of this book by Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 4 (1889), pp. 298-302. 

Duumvirates of Caligula [p. 14] : C. I. L. X. 901, 902, 904. 

Lex Petronia [p. 14] : C. I. L. X. 858 [cf. p. 219] ; Marquardt, op. cit. 
vol. I, p. 170. 

Inscriptions referring to priests [p. 14] : augurs, C. I. L. X. 806, 820, 822 ; 
pontifices, C. I. L. X. 788, 789, 791, 851, 859; of Mars, C. I. L. IV. 879; of 
Ceres, C. I. L. X. 812, 1036, 1074; of Ceres and Venus, Not. d. scavi, 1890, 



APPENDIX 515 

p. 91, and Ephem. Epigr. VIII. p. 86; divinity not mentioned, C. I. L. X. 
810-813, 816, 950, 998-999; of Augustus, C. I. L. X. 798, 830, 837-840, 943- 
948, IV. 1 1 80 (?) ; of Julia Augusta, C. I. L. X. 961 (?) ; of Fortuna Augusta, 
C. I. L. X. 824-828; of Mercury and Maia, C. I. L. X. 884-923; of Nero, 
C. I. L. IV. 1 185 [quoted on p. 222]. 

Officials of the Pagiis Augustus Felix [p. 14] : C. I. L. X. 814, 853, 924, 
944, 1027, 1028, 1030, 1042, 1055, 1074; Rom. Mitth., vol. 4 (1889), p. 344. 

Pompeian wine [p. 14] : Plin. N. H. XIV. 11. 35, iii. 38, vi. 70; Colu- 
mella, De re rust. III. 11. 27. For the forms of the amphorae, see the plate 
at the end of C. I. L. IV. following the map ; for the inscriptions, C. I. L. IV. 
pp. 171-188 and Suppl. 2. 

Pojnpeian cabbage and onions [p. 15] : Plin. N. H. XIX. viii. 140; Colu- 
mella, De re rust. X. 135, XII. x. i. 

Volcajiic products [p. 15] : pumice stone, Vitr. II. vi. 2; oil mills, Cato, 
De agri cultura, xxii. 3, 4, cxxxv. 2. 

Cicero's Pompeianuni [p. 16] : Cic. Acad. pr. II. iii. 9, xxv. 80; ad Att. I. 
XX. I, V. II. I, X. XV. I , XVI. 4, XIII. VIII ; ad Fam. VII. iii. i, iv, XII. 
XX ; ad Quint, fr. II. xiv. i; Plut. Cic. viii. See also Schmidt, Cicero's 
Villen — Das Pompeianum, Neue Jahrbiicher fur das Klassische Altertum, vol. 3 
(1899), pp. 489-497, and the review by Mau, Rom. Mitth. vol. 15 (1900), 
pp. 129-130. 

Death of Claudius'' s Drusus at Pompeii [p. 16] : Suet. Div. Claud, xxvii. 

Inscriptions [p. 16] : C. I. L. X. 874, 875 ; for the Greek iliscriptions dis- 
covered at Pompeii, cf C. I. L. IV, Index, p. 264 ; Kaibel, Inscriptiones Graecae 
Siciliae et Italiae, pp. 188-189; Dilthey, Dipinti Pompeiani accompagnati 
d' epigrammi greci, Ann. deir Inst. vol. 48 (1876), pp. 294-314. 

Population of Pompeii [p. 16] : Fiorelli, Gli Scavi di Pompei dal 1861 
al 1872, App. 3, pp. 12-14; NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 374-379. 

Evidence regarding the existence of a Jewish colony at Ponipeii [pp. 17-18] 
— inscriptions cited: C. I. L. IV, 1507, 2569, 2609, 2611, IV. Suppl. 4976, 
5244. Paintijig with the judgment of Solomon : Lumbroso, Sul dipinto pom- 
peiano in cui si e ravvisato il giudizio di Salomone, Memorie della Ace. dei 
Lincei, Serie 3, vol. 11 (1883), pp. 303-305 ; Samter. Archaologischer Anzei- 
ger, Beiblatt zum Jahr. des Inst., vol. 13 (1898), pp. 49-50. Supposed Chris- 
tian inscription and the literature relating to it : de Rossi, Una memoria dei 
Cristiani in Pompei. Bulletino di Archeologia Cristiana, vol. 2 (1864), pp. 
69-72, and Dei Giudei Libertini e dei Cristiani in Pompei, ibid. pp. 92-93 ; 
C. I. L. IV. 679, and Suppl. p. 461. 



CHAPTER III. THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII 

The particulars of the eruption are treated at length in the works on Vesu- 
vius cited in the note to Chap. I. 

Vesuvius before the eruption [p. 19] : Strabo, V. viii. (p. 247) ; Diod. 



5i6 POMPEII 

Sic. IV. XXI. 5; Vitr. II. vi. 2, 3; Mart. Epigr. IV. XLiv ; Palmieri, 
Del Vesuvio dei tempi di Spartaco e di Strabone e del precipuo cangiamento 
avvenuto neir anno 79 deir era volgare, Pompei e la regione sotterrate dal 
Vesuvio neir anno lxxix, pp. 91-94; see also Lobley, Mount Vesuvius, 
pp. 95-98 and pi. 8. Representation of Vesuvius in a Ponipeian wall paint- 
ing {diJL^Q.ov ox ^^ in 1879) • Not. d. scavi, 1879, P -85; reproduction, Not. d. 
scavi, 1880, pi. VII., with a geological analysis by Palmieri, pp. 233-234 ; repro- 
duced also by ue Marchi, II culto private di Roma antica, vol. i (Milan, 1896), 
pi. 5 (p. 100). 

The earthquake of 63 a.d. [p. 19] : Tac. Ann. XV. xxii (erroneously 
assigned to 62); Sen. N. Q. VI. i. 1-15, xxvi. 5, xxvii. i; cf. also the 
dedicatory inscription of the temple of Isis [p. 170]. 

Date of the eruption [p. 19] : Mau, Del mese e del giorno delP eruzione. 
Bull, deir Inst. 1880, pp. 92-96; Not. d. scavi, 1889. pp. 407-410; Rom. 
Mitth.,vol. 5 (1890), pp. 282-283. 

Ancient sources of our knowledge of the eruption [pp. 19-20] : Plin. Ep. 
VI. XVI, XX; Dio Cass. LXVI. xxi-xxiii ; incidental references, M. 
Aurel. Anton. IV. XLViii ; Euseb. Chron. ad an. Abr. 2095 ; Plut. De sera 
numinis vindicta, xxii. p. 566 E, De Pythiae oraculis, ix. p. 398 E ; Tertullian, 
Apologet. XL, De pallio, 11. 

Covering of Hercnlanenin [p. 21] ; RuGGiERO, Delia eruzione del Vesuvio 
neir anno lxxix (see note to Chap. I.), pp. 21-22. 

Excavations at Stabiae [p. 21] : see note to Chap. IV. 

Commission sent by Titus [p. 23] : Suet. Div. Tit. 8. 



CHAPTER IV. THE UNEARTHING 

Excavations at Pompeii : Fiorelli, Pompeianarum antiquitatum historia 
(3 vols., Naples, 1860-1864) ; Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872 
(Naples, 1873) ; C. I.L. X. pp. 93-94. Periodical reports of the excavations : 
Bullettino Archeologico Napolitanopubblicato da Avellino (vols. 1-6, Naples, 
1 842-1 848). Bullettino Archeologico Napolitano, Nuova Serie, edited by 
Garrucci and Minervini (vols. 1-8, Naples, 185 3- 1863) ; Bullettino Archeo- 
logico Italiano, edited by Minervini (1861-1862) ; Giornale degli scavi di 
Pompei pubblicato da Giuseppe Fiorelli (Naples, 1861-1865, incomplete) ; 
Giornale degli scavi di Pompei, Nuova Serie, pubblicata dagli alunni della 
Scuola archeologica (vols. 1-4, Naples, 1868-1879) ; since 1876, in the Noti- 
zie degli scavi di antichita. The reports on the excavations by Professor Mau 
were published in the Bullettino delP Institute from 1873 to 1885 ; since 1885 
they have appeared in the Romische Mittheilungen. 

Excavations at Herculaneum: Ruggiero, Storia degli scavi di Ercolano 
(Naples, 1885). 

Excavations at Stabiae: Ruggiero, Degli scavi di Stabia dal mdccxlix 
al MDCCLXXXii (Naples. 1881). 



APPENDIX 51^ 

inscriptions discovered by Font ana [p. 25] : C. I. L. X. 928, 952. 
Ti)ne required to complete the excavations [p. 29] : Fiorelli, Gli scavi di 
Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, App. p. 10. 

CHAPTER V. A BIRD^S-EYE VIEW 

The system of streets [p. 32] : Nissen, Das Templum (Berlin, 1869), pp. 63- 
81 ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 572-593 ; Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 
1861 al 1872, App. pp. 10-12; VON Bezold, Osservazioni sulla limitazione di 
Pompei, Bull. delP Inst. 1880, pp. 151-159; Mau, Osservazioni sulla rete 
stradale di Pompei, Bull. delP Inst. 1881, pp. 108-112. 

The regions and insulae [p. 34] : Fiorelli, Sulle regioni Pompeiane e 
della loro antica distribuzione (Naples, 1858) ; Fiorelli, Descrizione di 
Pompei (Naples, 1875), pp. 24-25 ; for the names given to houses, Fiorelli, 
Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, App. pp. 18-20. Meaning of the word 
Insula: Richter, Insula, Hermes, vol. 20 (1885), pp. 91-100. 

CHAPTER VI. MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, ARCHITECTURAL 

PERIODS 

Materials, construction, periods, systems of measurement : Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 1-97 ; Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, pp. 78-86; 
RuGGiERO, Delia eruzione del Vesuvio neli' anno lxxix (see note to Chap. I), 
pp. 5-8; Mau, Pompejanische Beitrage (Berlin, 1879), PP- 1-41? and Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 4 (1889), pp. 294-298. 

Mason'' s marks: C. I. L. IV. pp. 166-167; Richter, Ueber antike Stein- 
metz-zeichen (Berlin, 1883), pp. 13-22, summarized by Mau, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 4 (1899), pp. 292-294 ; Mau, Segui di scarpellino di Pompei, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 10 (1895), pp. 47-51. Marriott, Facts about Pompeii (London, 1895), 
pp. 62-85, reviewed by Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1895), pp. 222-224. A 
complete collection of mason's marks will appear in C. I. L. IV. suppl. 2. 

CHAPTER VII. THE FORUM 

Excavation (i 81 3-18 18), /Z^?;/, remains : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, 
pt. 3, pp. 135-212, vol. 3, pp. 1-17 ; Gell, Pompeiana (Edit. 2, 2 vols., Lon- 
don, 1832), vol. I, pp. 27-38 ; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei (four parts, cited 
as vols.; vols, i and 2. 1824; vols. 3 and 4, continued by Gau, 1828-1829; 
Paris), vol. 3, pp. 28-36, plates 13''% 14; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 313-319, 

344-374- 

l7iscriptions relatiiig to the Forum or found in it : C. I. L. X. 787-794, IV. 
pp. 4, 41, 125-127; inscription of A. Clodius Flaccus [p. 57], X. 1074. 

Statues of the Forum [pp. 46-48] : Mau, Die Statuen des Forums von 
Pompeji, Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), pp. 150-156. 



5i8 POMPEII 

History of the colonnade [p. 50] : Mau, II portico del Foro di Pompei, 
Rom. Mitth.. vol. 6 (1891), pp. 168-176. 

Paintings illustrating the life of the Forum [p. 55] : Le pitture antiche di 
Ercolano e contorni (5 vols., Naples, I757-I779)? PP- 213? 221, 227; Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, nos. 1489-1500; particularly Jahn, Ueber Darstellungen des 
Handwerks und Handelsverkehrs auf antiken Wandgemalden, Abhandlungen 
der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, philologisch.-hist. Classe, 
vol. 5 (1870), pp. 263-318 and pi. 1-3; reproduced also by Baumeister, 
Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums (3 vols., Munich, 1884-1888), vol. III. 
Fig- 1653; SCHREIBER, Atlas of Classical Antiquities (trans, by Anderson; 
London, 1895), pi. 87, 88, 89. 

Shape of a typical forum contrasted with that of the agora [p. 57] : Vitr. 

V. I. 1-3. 

Admission fee^ [p. 57] : Friedlaender in Marquardt, Rom. Staatsver- 
waltung (Edit. 2), vol. 3, pp. 492-493. 

Slaves not permitted to witness the games [p. 58] : Cic. De harus. resp. 
XII. 26. 

CHAPTER VIII. THE BUILDINGS AROUND THE FORUM — 
THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 

Of the Capitolium in Roman colonies generally: Kuhfeldt, De capitoliis 
imperii Romani (Berlin, 1882) ; Castan, Les capitaux provinciaux du monde 
romain (Besan^on, 1886) ; de Rossi and Gatti, I campidogli nelle colonie e 
nelle altre citta del mondo romano, Bull, com., vol. 15 (1887), pp. 66-68; 
WissowA, Capitolium (2), Pauly-Wissowa Real-Encyclopadie, vol. 3, pp. 

1538-1540. 

The temple of fupiter (excavated in 1816-1818, 1820) : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 3, pp. 185-200, vol. 2. pp. 16-17, vol. 3, p. 13 ; Mazois, 
Les mines de Pompei, vol. 3, pp. 48-50, pl- 30-36; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
pp. 320-327 ; Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 200-209 ; Weichardt, Pompeji vor 
der Zerstorung (Leipzig, 1897), pp. 61-78. 

Variation of the plan from the Etruscan, union of Greek and Etruscan 
elements [p. 63] : cf. Vitr. IV. vii. i, viii. 5. 

Relief in the house of Caecilius Jucundus [p. 64] : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 
15 (1900), pp. 115-116. 

Decoration of the cella [p. 65] : Mau, Geschichte der decorativen Wand- 
malerei in Pompeji (Berlin, 1882), pp. 61-62, 248. 

1 ascriptions found in the cella [p. 66] : C. I. L. X. 796-797. 

The Capitoliiim and the temple of Zeus Milichius [p. 66] : Mau, Rom. 
Mitth., vol. II (1896), pp. 141-149- 

Temples of fupiter, funo, and Minerva in Etruscan and Roman cities 
[p. 66] : Serv. Com. in Verg. ad Aen. I. 422; Vitr. I. vii. i. 

Capitals of the Ionic columns of the cella, and of the Corinthian columns of 
the portico [pp. 63-67] : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 3, pi. 35. The 



APPENDIX 519 

shape of the acanthus leaves is not that characteristic of the pre-Roman period. 
It is therefore most probable that the temple was built, or at any rate was com- 
pleted, in the early years of the colony. 

The vaults in the podiiuu [p. 67] : Not. d. scavi; 1900, pp. 341-344. 



CHAPTER IX. THE BASILICA 

Excavatioji (1813-1816) : Fiorelli. Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 2, p. 86, 
pt. 3, pp. 1 1 i-i 79 passim; vol. 2, p. 13. 

Insci'ipiions : C. I. L. X. 805-807. IV. pp. 1 13-125. 

Decoratio7i: Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei. pp. 11-17. 

Reconstruction : Mau, Rom. Alitth., vol. 3 (1888), pp. 14-46, vol. 6 (1891), 
pp. 67-71, vol. 8 (1893), pp. 166-171 ; cf. also Wolters. Das Chalcidicum 
der Pompejanischen Basilica, Rom. Mitth.. vol. 3 (1888), pp. 47-60. Equal 
height of main room and corridor was first assumed by Mazois (Les mines de 
Pompei, vol. 3. pis. 17. 18), afterward by Mau (Pomp. Beitrage. pp. 156-199). 
A clerestory was added by Caxixa (Architettura Antica. vol. 3. pi. 93), and 
by Lange (Haus und Halle. Leipzig, 1885. pp. 351-372). Schoene (Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 198-201) assumes an equal height for the large columns 
and the half-columns, with a gallery above the corridor. 

The Basilica Porcia [p. 70J : Huelsen, Rom. Mitth., vol. 8 (1893), pp. 84, 
91 . Other references on the Roman basilicas : Huelsen, Nomenclator topo- 
graphicus (Kiepert and Huelsex. Formae urbis Romae antiquae, Berlin, 
1896), pp. 13-14. 

The Basilica at Fano [p. 71] : Vitr. V. i. 6-10; Prestel, Des M. Vitru- 
vius Pollio, Basilica zu Fanum Fortunae (Strassburg. 1900). Reconstruc- 
tion: ViOLLET-LE-Duc. Entretiens sur Tarchitecture (2 vols. Paris, 1863, 
1872), vol. I, pp. 150-157, and Atlas, pi. 8-10; translation of vol. i by van 
Brunt (under the title Discourses on Architecture, Boston, 1873), PP- I44- 
149 and pis. 8-10. 

Literature relating to the origin of the Christian basilica : Dehio and vox 
Bezold, Die kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes, vol. i (Stuttgart, 1892), pp. 
62-63, ^^"^d LowRiE, Monuments of the Early Church (New York, 1901). pp. 
420-421 ; cf. also HoLTZiNGER, Die altchristhche und byzantinische Baukunst 
(Stuttgart, 1899: in Durm's Handbuch der Architektur), pp. 19-25; Kraus, 
Realencyclopadie der christl. Alterthiimer (2 vols., Freiburg. 1882-1886), vol. 
I. under Basilica; Lange, Haus und Halle (Leipzig, 1885), pp. 270-326; 
F. Witting, Die Anfange christlicher Architektur (Strassburg, 1902). 



CHAPTER X. THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO 

Excavation (1817-1818). remains, restoration : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. I, pt. 3, pp. 191, 203-210, vol. 2, pp. 9. 69, vol. 3, pp. 9-16; Cell, 
Pompeiana (Edit. 3, by Gell and Gandy, London, 1852), pi. 53-54; Mazois, 



520 POMPEII 

Les mines de Pompei, vol. 4, pis. 16-23 i Nissen, Pomp. Stiidien, pp. 213-232 ; 
Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 93-116; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji (Pompeji in 
seinen Gebaiuden, Alterthiimern und Kunstwerken dargestellt von Johannes 
OvERBECK ; vierte im Vereine mit August Mau durchgearbeitete und ver- 
mehrte Auflage, Leipzig, 1884), pp. 96-104 and 636-637 (Anm. 41-45) ; 
IvANOFF, Architektonische Studien. Heft 2 (Berlin, 1895), pi. 1-3 ; Weichardt, 
Pompeji vor der Zerstorung, pp. 35-52. 

Inscriptions relating to the temple — Oscan [p. 80 J : Mau, Bull, deir Inst., 
1882, pp. 189-190, 203, 205-207; Buecheler, Rhein. Mas., vol. 37 (1882), 
p. 643 ; Zvetaieff, Inscriptiones Italiae inferioris dialecticae (Moscow, 1886), 
p. 55 (no. 156 d)\ VON Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dia- 
lekte (2 vols.; Strassburg, 1892, 1897), vol. 2, p. 500; Conway, Italic 
Dialects (2 vols., London, 1897), vol. i, p. 65. Latin [pp. 85-86] : C. I. L. 
X. 787, 800-804. 

Paintings [pp. 84, 87] : Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 266, 395, 1306, 1324, 
1325, 1544, and Nachtrage, pp. 461-462. 

Statues found in the court [p. 87] — Venus: Museo Borb.. vol. 14, pi. 23. 
Artemis and Apollo: Museo Borb., vol. 8, pi. 59, 60. Herm in the Naples 
Museum forjiierly thought to be Maia : Patron i, La pretesa Maia, erma del 
Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Rom. Mitth., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 131-132. 

The cult of Mercury and Maia [p. 89] : cf. Samter, Altare di Mercurio e 
Maia, Rom. Mitth., vol. 8 (1893), pp. 222-225. 

Augustus as Mercury [p. 90] : Kiessling, Zu Hor. Od. I. 2, in Philolo- 
gische Untersuchungen (herausgegeben von A. Kiessling und U. von Wila- 
mowitz-Moellendorff, Berlin), Heft 2 (1881), p. 92. hiscriptions 

referring to the cult of Mercury and Maia. afterward of Augustus^ at Pom- 
peii : C. I.L. X. pp. 109-T13. Dendereh inscription (found with a wall 
painting showing the portrait of an emperor) : Duemichen, Baugeschichte 
des Denderah Tempels (Berlin, 1877), p. 16 and pi. 9 ; Krall, Wiener Studien, 
vol. 5 (1883), p. 315, note. 

CHAPTER XI. THE BUILDINGS AT THE NORTHWEST COR- 
NER OF THE FORUM — THE TABLE OF STANDARD 
MEASURES 

TJie table of stajtdard measures [p. 92] : Mancini, La mensa ponderaria 
di Pompei esistente nel Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Giornale degli scavi di 
Pompei, Nuova Serie, vol. 2 (1871), pp. 144-161 ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
pp. 71-74; Conway, The Italic Dialects, vol. i, pp. 67-68, vol. 2, pp. 521- 
523 ; Zvetaieff, Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum, pi. 13 ; C.I. L. X. 793. 

Measurements of the cavities by Mr. Bidder: The Academ}-, April 15, 

1895. p- 319- 

Other tables of standard measures [p. 93] : at Minturnae, C.I. L. X. 6017 ; 
at Tivoli, Not. d. scavi, 1883, pp. 85-86, 172. and Lanctani, Pagan and Chris- 
tian Rome (Boston, 1892), pp. 40-41 ; at Selinus, Not. d. Scavi, 1884, p. 321 ; 



APPENDIX 521 

Bregenz, Mitth. der Oesterr. Centralcommission, Neue Folge, vol. 8, p. 99 ; in 
Greek lands, Tarbell, A "Mensa Ponderaria'^ from Assos ; American Journal 
of Archeology, vol. 7 (1891), pp. 440-443, and n. i (the Assos table is now in 
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) ; Bacon, Investigations at Assos, Pt. i (1902), 
PP- 7I' 73- 

CHAPTER XII. THE MACELLUM 

Excavatiojt (in 1 821 -1822), identification, reconstruction: Fiorelli, 
Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, pp. 38-56, vol. 3.pp- 31-32 ; Gell. Pompeiana (Edit, of 
1832). vol. I, pp. 46-68; Mazois, Les mines de Ponipei, vol. 3, pp. 59-67, 
pi. 42-46 ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 275-286 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, 
pp. 120-128 ; Not. d. scavi, 1898, pp. 333-339. 

Other niacella [p. 94] /// Rome : Huelsen, Nomenclator top. (see note to 
Chap. IX), p. 44. At Puteoli: Gervasio, Sopra alcune iscrizioni riguardanti 
il Macello neir antica Pozzuoli (Naples, 1852) ; published also in Memorie 
della regale Accademia ercolanese di archeologia, vol. 6 (1853), pp. 265-283. 

The tholus [p. 94] : \^arro, apud Non., p. 448. The coin of Nero referred 
to is described by Eckhel, Uoctrina numorum veterum (Edit. 2, 8 vols., 
Vienna, 1 792-1828), vol. 6. p. 273, and figured by Cohen, Description histo- 
rique des monnaies frappees sous 1' empire romain, vol. i (Edit. 2, Paris, 1880), 
p. 288: and Donaldson, Architectura Numismatica, no. LXXII. 

Paintings in the Macelbun at Pompeii [pp. 96-98] : Helbig, Wandge- 
malde, see Topogr. Index, p. 476, under Pantheon. 

Cnpids as bakers and as makers of wreaths [p. 98] : Museo Borb , vol. 4, 
pi. 47, and vol. 6, pi. 51 ; Roux, Herculanum et Pompe'i (text by Barre ; 8 
vols., Paris. 1840), vol. 2, pi. 83. 84; Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. ']']'], 800: 
Jahn, Abhandlungen der Konigl. sachsichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, 
philolog-hist. Classe, vol. 5 (1870), pp. 315-318 and pi. 6. 

Statues found in the imperial chapel [p. 98] : Mau, Statua di Marcello 
nipote di Augusto, Atti della reale Accademia di Napoli, vol. 15 (1891), pp. 
133-15 1 ; Helbig, Osservazioni sopra i ritratti di Fulvia e di Ottavia, Mon. 
dei Lincei, vol. i (1890), pp. 573-590. Both these articles are summarized by 
Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 6 (1891), p. 268. and vol. 7 (1892). pp. 169-171. The 
statues were published with the names of Livia and Drusus, son of Tiberius, 
in the Museo Borb., vol. 3, pi. 37, 38 ; the right hand of Octavia is restored. 

Destruction wrought by the earthquake of 6^ [p. 10 1] : this matter will be 
discussed in an early number of the Romische Mittheilungen. 

CHAPTER XIII. THE SANCTUARY OF THE CITY LARES 

Excavation (1817), remains: Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 3, 
p. 196; Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 3, pp. 50-51, pi. 37; Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 303-306. 

Identification and restoration : Mau, Der Stadtische Larentempel in Pom- 
peji, Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896). pp. 285-301. 



522 POMPEII 



CHAPTER XIV. THE TEMPLE OF VESPASIAN 

Excavation (in 1817), remams, identification^ restoration : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 3, p. 198 ; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 4, pp. 33-36, 
pi. 12-15 ; Garrucci, L'Augusteum, la curia degli Augustales, il Chalcidicum, 
Taedes Fortunae Augustae, Bullettino archeologico Napolitano, Nuova Serie, vol. 
2 (1854), pp. 4-6, published also in his Questioni Pompeiane (Naples, 1853), 
pp. 74-79; NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 270-275; Mau, Osservazioni sul 
creduto tempio del Genio di Augusto in Pompei, Atti della reale Accademia 
di Napoli, vol. 16 (1894), pp. 181-188; Weichardt, Pompeji vor der Zer- 
storung, pp. 95-101. For the restoration given in Fig. 46, see Mau, Der 
Tempel des Vespasian in Pompeii, Rom. Mitth., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 133-138. 

CHAPTER XV. THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 

Excavation (1814-1818) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 3, pp. 154- 
158, 195, 198, 210-213, vol. 2, pp. 7-19, vol. 3, pp. 6, 13, 16, 23. 

Remains^ ideiitification^ restoration : Bechi, Del calcidico e della cripta di 
Eumachia scavati nel Foro di Pompeji Tanno 1820 (Naples, 1820) ; Gell, 
Pompeiana (Edit, of 1832), vol. i, pp. 13-26; Mazois, Les ruines di Pompei, 
vol. 3. pp. 42-47, pi. 22-27; N1S.SEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 287-303. For the 
restorations given in the text, see Mau, Osservazioni sulP edifizio di Eumachia 
in Pompei, Rom. Mitth., vol. 7 (1892), pp. 1 13-143. 

Inscriptions [pp. in, 112] : C. I. L. X. 808-815. 

Decoration [p. iii]: Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 3, pp. 45-46, 
pi. 26, 27; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 334-335, 410, and 
pi. 10; Helbig, Wandgemalde, no. 1094^. 

CHAPTER XVI. THE COMITIUM 

Remains, identification : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 3, pp. 58-59 ; 
NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 185-193 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 136-138. 

CHAPTER XVII. THE MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS 

Excavation (1814), remains, identification : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. I, pt. 3, pp. 154-159, vol. 2, p. 160; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, 
vol. 3, p. 52, pi. 38; NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 306-311 ; Overbeck-Mau 
Pompeji, pp. 139-142. 

CHAPTER XVIII. THE TEMPLE OF VENUS POMPEIANA 

Excavation, remains, ide7itification : Not. d. scavi, 1899, pp. 17.-23, 1900, 
pp. 27-30. In these reports the temple is assigned to the worship of Augustus, 
the history of the building also being misunderstood. For a justification of 
the interpretation of the remains given in the text, see Mau, Der Tempel der 
Venus Pompeiana, Rom. Mitth., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 270-308 and pi. 7-8. 



APPENDIX 523 



CHAPTER XIX. THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA AUGUSTA 

Excavation (1823-1824) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, pp. 84-85, 
91, 95-98. 

Remains^ restoration: Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 4, pp. 45-48, 
pi. 24-26; Gell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1832), voL i, pp. 69-82: Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 178-184; Mau, Der Tempel der Fortuna Augusta in 
Pompeji, Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), pp. 269-284; Weichardt, Pompeji 
vor der Zerstorung, pp. 85-93. 

Inscriptions [pp. 130, 132] : C. I. L. X. 820-828. 

CHAPTER XX. THE FORUM TRIANGULARE AND THE GREEK 

TEMPLE 

Excavation of the Eortmi and the temple (i 767-1 797) : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 211, 276, 285, 286, 297, 307, 308, pt. 2, pp. 63-65. 

Remains of the temple^ restoration : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 3, 
pp. 17-22, pi. 8-10. Especially attractive are the sketches and restorations 
given by Weichardt, Pompeji vor der Zerstorung, pp. 17-33, pl- i^ 2 (repro- 
duced in our pi. 3), and 3. The best description of the remains of the temple 
is given by Koldewey and Puchstein, Die griechischen Tempel in Unterita- 
lien und Sicihen (Berlin, 1899), pp. 45-49 and pi. 5; their conclusions are 
criticised by Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 126-128. See also 
vONDuHNandjACOBi, Der griechische Tempel in Pompeji (Heidelberg, 1890) ; 
SoGLiANO, II tempio nel Foro triangolare di Pompei, Mon. dei Lincei, vol. i 
(1890), pp. 189-200; both these contributions are reviewed by Mau, Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 6 (1891), pp. 258-267. 

The colonnade contained ninety-five Doric columns [p. 135] : there were in 
addition two half-columns at the south end; Plan III. in this respect is 
inexact. The number of columns is often given as one hundred. 

Inscriptions of the sundial and the pedestal [p. 136] : C. I. L. X. 831, 832. 

Number of columns in the temple fro?it uneven [p. 137] : the steps are too 
broad for one intercohminiation, and must have been designed for two, as 
indicated in Fig. 62. 

Human bones found in the enclosure [p. 139] : Romanelli, Viaggio a 
Pompei (181 1 ), p. 104 (Edit. 2, 1817, p. 182), '• Vi furono trovati molti avanzi 
di cadaveri sepolti." Excavations made here at the suggestion of Professor 
Mau brought to light few traces of bones. 

Oscan inscription [p. 139] : Zvetaieff, Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum 
(Leipzig, 1868), no. 69 and pi. 13; von Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch- 
Umbrischen Inschriften, v(51. 2, p. 501 ; Conway. Italic Dialects, vol. i,p. 63. 

Oscan inscription [p. 140] : see references below, pp. 530-531. 

CHAPTER XXI. THE LARGE THEATRE 

Excavation of the two theatres and the court behind the Large Theatre (July, 



524 POMPEII 

1764,10 March, 1765; and December, 179K to February, 1796): Fiorelli, 
Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 158-165, pt. 2, pp. 46-63. For the Small 
Theatre, see also vol. i, pt. 2, pp. 69, 75. 

Paintings at Pouipeii relating to the stage: Helbig, Wandgernalde, nos. 
1464-1476; SOGLIANO, Le pitture murah Campane, nos. 740-752; Maass, 
AfFreschi scenici di Pompeii, Ann. deir Inst., vol. 53 (1881), pp. 109-159, 
and Mon. dell' Inst., vol. 11, pi. 30-32. 

Remains of the Large Theatre: Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 4, pp. 
55-70, pi. 27-34; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 352-357; Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 232-253 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 153-176. 

The tribunals [p. 145] : it is evident from the language of Suetonius (Div. 
Aug. 44, solis virginibus Vestalibus locum in theatro separatim et contra prae- 
toris tribunal dedit) that opposite the place set aside for the praetor, which 
was called tribunal, there was another likewise reserved. In our theatre the 
two platforms mentioned correspond exactly with this arrangement, and there 
is no other part of the structure to which the word tribunalia, in the inscrip- 
tion of the Holconii (p. 148), could properly be applied. We are safe there- 
fore in calling the platforms tribunals. 

Wall painting, showing theatre police seated in nicJies in front of the stage 
[p. 146] : found in the casa della fontana grande ; described by Helbig, 
Wandgernalde, no. 1468; figured in Museo Borb., vol. 4, pi. 18, and in 
Wieseler, Theatergebaude und Denkmaler des Buhnenwesens bei den 
Griechen und Romern (Gottingen, 185 1), pi. 11, 2. A similar figure sitting in 
a shallow niche has been found on a wall in the eighth region (VIII. 11. 23) ; 
see Rom. Mitth., vol. 3 (1888), p. 202, no. 12. On the need of police to 
keep order in Roman theatres, see the references given by Marquardt, 
Rom. Staatsvenvaltung, vol. 3 (Edit. 2), pp. 541-542; but cf. Korting, 
Geschichte des griechischen und romischen Theaters (Paderborn, 1897), p. 367. 

Place of stage jnachinery [p. 147] : Pollux, Onomast. IV. 128. 

Inscriptions relating to Actins Anicetiis [p. 148] : inscription found at 
PuteoH, C. I. L. X. 1946; graffiti, C. I. L. I\'. 2155, and Index, p. 233, under 
Actius and Anicetus; C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 5395. 

Assemblies in the theatre [p. 148] : at Tarentum (282 B.C.), App. De 
rebus Samnit. VII. 11; Dio Cass. Frag. xxix. 5; at Pergamus. Plut. Sulla, 
II. Cf. Muller, Buhnenalterthiimer, pp. 73-75. 

hiscriptions found in the theatre [pp. 148-150] : monumental, C. I. L. X. 
833-843; painted inscriptions and graffiti, C. I. L. IV. pp. 63, 153-157. 

The stage and the orchestra in the Greek and the Roman theatre [p. 150] : 
Vitr. V. vi-viii. 

The problem of the stage in the Greek theatre [p. 151] : Doerpfeld and 
Reisch, Das griechische Theater, Beitrage zur Geschichte des Dionysos- 
Theaters in Athen und anderer griechischer Theater (Athens and Leipzig, 
1896), particularly pp. 341-365 ; Doerpfeld, Das griechische Theater Vi- 
truvs, Athen. Mitth., vol. 22 (1897), pp. 439-462; vol. 23 (1898), pp. 326- 
356. A convenient summary of Doerpfeld's conclusions and of the litera- 



APPENDIX 525 

ture of the subject to 1898 is given by Frazer. Pausanias's Description of 
Greece, vol. 3, pp. 254-255. and vol. 5. pp. 582-584. 

The stage of the Large Theatre at Pompeii [p. 152] : Puchsteix and KOL- 
DEWEV, Berliner Philologische Wochenschrift. 1896, pp. 477-478: Archaolo- 
gischer Anzeiger, Beiblatt zum Jahrb. des Inst.. 1896, pp. 30. 40 ; Plxhstein, 
Die griechische Biihne (Berlin, 1901). pp. 75-77. 

CHAPTER XXII. THE SMALL THEATRE 

Excavation, re^naifis : see references to Chap. XXI. 

Decoration (second style) : Mau. Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp, 
248-249. 

Inscriptions : C. I. L. X. 844, 845. Theft of the bronze letters of the in- 

scription of Ocnlatins Vei'us [p. 156] : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 3, 
pp. 231, 277 ; Zangemeister. Sopra 1' iscrizione del teatro piccolo di Pompei, 
Bull, deir Inst., 1866. pp. 30-31. 

Gains Qiiinctius Valgus [p. 153] : Cic. De lege agraria, III: C.I. L. IX. 
1140, X. 5282 (cf. BuECHELER, Carmina Latina epigraphica. vol. i. Leipzig. 
1895, no. 12) ; Dessau, C, Ouinctius V'algus. Der Erbauer des Amphitheaters 
zu Pompeii, Hermes, vol. 18 (1883), pp. 620-622. 

The narrow doors at the rear of the stage designed to give access to the 
tribimalia [p. 156] : Kelsey. The Stage Entrances of the Small Theatre at 
Pompeii, American Journal of Archaeology, series 2, vol. 4 (1900), p. 150, 
also vol. 6 (1902). 

CHAPTER XXIII. THE THEATRE COLONNADE 

Excavation (October 25, 1766, to April 7. 1769, and December 10, 1791, 
to February 20, 1794) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i. pt. i, pp. 195-228, 
pt. 2, pp. 46-48, 51, 52, 54, 151-153, pt. 3r p. 273- 

Reniains^ identification, restoration : Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 
3, pp. 12-15, pl- 2-6: Cell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1852), p. 184: Garrucci, 
II Ludus Gladiatorius. ovvero Convitti dei Gladiatori. in his Questioni Pom- 
peiane (Naples. 1853), pp. 1-8: Nissen, Pomp. Studien. pp. 253-262. The 
suggestion has lately been made that the colonnade may have been designed 
as the Gymnasium of pre-Roman Pompeii (Petersen, Ueber die sogen. Gla- 
diatorenkaserne in Pompeji, Rom. Mitth.. vol. 14 (1899). pp. 103-104). 

Graffiti: C I.L. IV. pp. 157-159. 

E.xiiibitions of gladiators [p. 161] : C. I. L. X. 1074. and references to Chap. 
XXX. 

Paintings [pp. 161-162] : Helbig, Wandegemalde. nos. 322, 15 12. 

CHAPTER XXIV. THE PALAESTRA 

Excavation (April 13 to August 31. 1797) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. I, pt. 2, pp. 66-68. 

Remains, identification: Mazois, vol. 3, pp. 25-26, pi. 11, 12; Nissen, 



526 POMPEII 

Pomp. Studien, pp. 158-170; Mau, Der Fundort des Neapler Doryphoros, 
Strena Helbigiana (Leipzig, 1900), pp. 184-187. 

Measicrements, showing confonnity to the Oscaii standard [p. 165] : Mau, 
Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 21-23. 

Oscan inscription [p. 165] : Zvetaieff, Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum, 
no. 63, pi. 11; VON Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekte, 
vol. 2, p. 499 ; Conway, Italic Dialects, vol. i, no. 42. 

Doryphonis [p. 166] : reproduction on a larger scale, Brunn and Bruck- 
MANN, Denkmaler griechischer und romischer Sculptur, no. 273. 



CHAPTER XXV. THE TEMPLE OF ISIS 

The worship of /sis ontside of Egypt: Lafaye, Histoire du culte des 
divinites d'Alexandrie, Serapis, Isis, Harpocrate et Anubis, hors de TEgypte, 
depuis les origines jusqu'a la naissance de Tecole neo-Platonicienne (Pap's, 
1883) ; for the literature relating to the worship of Isis in Italy, see Roscher, 
Ausfiihrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie, vol. 2, 
pt. I, pp. 398-412. 

Excavation of the temple (December 22, 1764, to September 27, 1766): 
FiORELLi, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 164-194. 

Inscriptions relating to the temple : Piranesi (see below), pi. 70-72 ; C. I. L. 

X. 846-851 . Inscription found at Puteoli [p. 169] : C.I.L.I.577,X. 1781; 
Wiegand, Die puteolanische Bauinschrift sachlich erlautert, Jahrbiicher flir 
classische Philologie, Supplementband 20 (1894), pp. 659-778. An interesting 
graffito relating to the worship of Isis was found in the house of the Silver 
Wedding in 1892; see Rom. Mitth.. vol. 8 (1893), p. 57, no. 7 (cf. also 
DE Rossi, Roma sotterranea, vol. 2, pp. 14-15). 

Remains, restoration : Sogliano, Aedis Isidis Pompeiana, not yet pub- 
lished [see Preface, p. vi.] ; Piranesi, Antiquites de Pompei (designs made 
about 1788), vol. 2 (= vol. 26 of Opera, in 27 vols.), pi. 59-72 ; Mazois, Les 
mines de Pompei, vol. 4, p. 24, pi. 7-1 1 ; Niccolixi, Le case ed i monumenti 
di Pompei (Naples, 1854-1895), vol. i. pt. 3, end (12 pi.); Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 170-175, 346-349; Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, p. 23; Weichardt, 
Pompeji vor der Zerstorung, pp. 103-113. 

Statues — Bacchus [\:). 170]: Museo. Borb., vol. 9, pi. 11 ; Roux, Hercula- 
num et Pompei, vol. 6, pi. 21. Isis [p. 176] : Museo. Borb., vol. 14, pi. 35. 
Herm of Sorex [p. 176], Piranesi, Antiquites de Pompei, vol. 2, pi. 72. The 
statue of Venus has disappeared : Overbeck-M \u, Pompeji, note 208, p. 649. 

Paintings [pp. 172 et seq.']: Helbig, VVandgemalde, nos. 1-6. 135, 138, 
391 b^ 962, 1013, 1096-99, 1103, 1271, 1292, 1571, 1576-1577. Paintings from 
Herculaneum [p. 178] : Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 2, pi. 68, 69; 
Helbig, VVandgemalde, nos. 11 11, 1112. 

A left hand carried in procession in honor of Isis [p. 173] : Apul. Metam. 

XI. X. 

Service described by Aptdeius [p. 176] : Metam. XI. xx. While the people 



APPENDIX 527 

were praying the priest made a circuit of the altars, which were evidently, as at 
Pompeii, distributed about the temple in the court. 

Perseiis 7'escumg Andromeda [p. 179] : that the male figure is intended to 
represent Perseus and not Hermes is certain from the description of the figure 
when first excavated — '-alia cinta tiene una testa alata'' (Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, p. 171). All trace of the Medusa head has now 
disappeared. 

Initiation into the mysteries of Tsis [p. 182] : Apul. Metam. XT. xxi, xxiii. 

CHAPTER XXVI. THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS MILICHIUS 

Excavation (September 27 to October 18, 1766; March 15-22 and June 14, 
1798) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 194-195, pt. 2, pp. 70-71. 

Remains, identification^ restoration : Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 4, 
p. 22, pi. 4-6; NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 175-177, 535-536; Mau, Pomp. 
Beitrage, pp. 13-15, 227-232 ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 60- 
61 ; Mau, Das Capitolium und der Tempel des Zeus Meilichios in Pompeji, 
Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), pp. 141-149. An impossible restoration is given 
by Weichardt, Pompeji vor der Zerstorung, pp. 1 16-123. 

Two statues and a bust of terra cotta [p. 184] : von Rohden, Die Terra- 
cotten von Pompeji (Stuttgart, 1880), pp. 42-43, pi. 29. 

Oscan inscription [p. 184] : Zvetaieff, Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum, 
no. 62, pi. 10 ; VON Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekte, 
vol. 2, p. 499; Conway, Italic Dialects, vol. i, pp. 58-59; Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 531-536- 

CHAPTER XXVII. THE STABIAN BATHS 

Roman baths in general: Marquardt, Privatleben der Romer, Edit. 2, 
pt. I, pp. 269-297 ; Mau, article Bader in the Pauly-Wissowa Realencyclopadie, 
vol. 2, pt. 2, pp. 2743-2758; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 152-155. 

Baths in Pompeii — in the second Insula of Regio7i VIII : Mau, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 3 (1888), pp. 194-205, vol. 5 (1890), pp. 130-141, vol. 10 (1895), pp. 218- 
219. In the so-called villa of fulia Felix: Chambalu, Die wiederverschlittete 
Besitzung der Julia Felix beim Amphitheater in Pompeji, Festschrift zur 43'™ 
Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmanner dargeboten von den 
hoheren Lehranstalten Kolns (Cologne, 1895), and the review of this pamphlet 
by Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1895), pp. 225-227. For the baths of M. 
Crassus Frugi, see above, p. 408 ; for the baths in private houses at Pompeii, 
Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 149-151, and above, pp. 267, 306-307 (both in the 
house of the Silver Wedding), 346, 357, 362-363. 

Excavation of the Stabian Baths ( 1854-185 7; the official reports are 
meagre) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, pp. 589-658 ; cf. also Minervini, 
Notizie de' piii recenti scavi di Pompei, Bull. Archeologico Napolitano, Nuova 
Serie, vols. 2-6 (1853-1858). 

Remains: Michaelis, Die neuen Bader in Pompeji, Archaiologische 



528 POMPEII 

Zeitung, vol. 17 (1859), pp. 17-32, 37-46; Finati, Relazione degli scavi di 
Pompei, Museo Borb., vol. 16 (15 pp. text and pi. A-B) ; Niccolini, Le case 
ed imonumenti di Pompei, vol. i, pt. 3 (12 pp., 8 pis.) ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
pp. 140-158; Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 117-151; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, 
pp. 215-233 ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, p. 60. 

Pamtings : Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 30 (p. 11), 44, 416, 432, 1016, 
1057, 1260 b, 1545 ; see below, pi. XIII. 

Origin of the balneae pensiles [p. 187] : Valer. Max. .IX. i. i ; Plin. N. H. 

IX. LIV. 168. 

The anteroo7n of the mejCs baths [p. 190] : in the front part of this was 
once a shallow basin, undoubtedly for preliminary cleaning before one entered 
the frigidarium ; cf. p. 197. 

Bath basin in the nieiCs tepidarinni [p. 192] : cf. Kuszinsky, Aquincum 
(Budapest, 1889), p. 62. 

The poet declaiming in the bath [p. 192] : Petr. Sat. xci ; Hor. Sat. I. iv. 
74-76; and cf. Mayors note to Juvenal i, 17 and iii, 9. 

Pulvinns [p. 193], testiido alvei [p. 194] : Vitr. V. x. Testudo alvei: 

Mau, Fulcra lectorum — testudines alveorum, Nachrichten von der Konigl. 
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, 1896, pp. 76-82; von Duhn 
and Jacobi, Der griechische Tempel in Pompeji, pp. 33-35 and pi. 9. 

Inscriptions — Vnlins and Anitiius [p. 195] : C. I. L. X. 829. Vacciila 
[p. 197] : C. I. L. IV. Suppl. I, no. 3340, VI. Atinins [p. 200] ; Zvetaieff, 
Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum. no. 66, pi. 13 ; von Planta, Grammatik der 
Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekte, vol. 2, p. 500; Conway. Italic Dialects, vol. i, 
p. 61. 

Destrictarinni [p. 195] : all the rooms at the left of the palaestra are of 
later date than the inscription ; the present destrictarium probably takes the 
place of an earlier one. 

Iniprovemoit of the arrangements for heating [p. 196] : the hollow walls 
of the caldarium are made with hollow tiles, while in the tepidarium tegulae 
mammatae are used ; for a fuller discussion of the successive changes, see 
Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 131-141. 

The brazier of Vaccula [p. 197] : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, 
pp. 649-650. 

Hermes in the gvfnnasinm at Phigalia [p. 200] : Pans. VIII. xxxix. 4 (6) ; 
cf. also IV. XXXII. I. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM 

Excavation [1824-1825] : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, pp. 106, 
107-116, 118, 121-125, 128, vol. 3, p. 15. 

Remains : Bechi, Terme Pompeiane, Museo Borb., vol. 2, pi. 49-52 (text, 
31 pp.) ; Brulloff, Thermes di Pompei (Paris, 1829), 10 large pis. ; Gell, 
Pompeiana (Edit, of 1832), vol. i, pp. 83-141, vol. 2, pp. 80-94 ; Mazois, Les 
ruines de Pompei, vol. 3. pp. 67-77, P'- 47-5°; Zahn, Neuentdeckte Wand- 



APPENDIX 529 

gemalde in Pompeji (Stuttgart, 1828), pi. 2-5 ; Zahn, Die scbonsten Orna- 
mente und merkwLirdigsten Gemalde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae, 
nebst einigen Grundrissen und Ansichten (3 parts, here cited as volumes, 
302 pis. in 30 Heften, Berlin, 1827-1859), vol. i, pi. 10, 46, 76, 94; Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 128-135 i Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 218-227. 

Inscriptions of the builders [p. 203], of Vacaila [p. 205], of Aper and 
Rufiis [p. 206] : C. I. L. X. 817-819. 

CHAPTER XXIX. THE CENTRAL BATHS 

Ex'cavatio7i (1876-1878). remains: Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 1877, pp. 214- 
223, 1878. pp. 251-254. Laconicnni : Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 144-145. 

CHAPTER XXX. THE AMPHITHEATRE 

Of amphitheatres in general^ and gladiatorial sports: Friedlaender. 
Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms in der Zeit von August bis zum 
Ausgang der Antonine, Edit. 6 (3 parts, here cited as volumes. Leipzig, 
1888-1890), vol. 2, pp. 358-435, Edit. 7, vol. 2, pp. 45-66; briefer statement 
by Friedlaender in Marquardt's Staatsverwaltung, Edit. 2, vol. 3, pp. 554- 
565; Meier, De gladiatura Romana quaestiones selectae (Bonn, 1881). 

Gladiatorial combats in Campajiia and in Rome [pp. 212-213] : Strabo. 
V. IV. 12 [p. 250, c] ; Valer. Max. II. iv. 7 ; Liv. Epit. xvi. and XXIII. xxx. 
15. For the games following Caesar's triumph, see Suet. Div. lul, xxxix. 
App. Bel. Civ. II. XV. 102 and Dio. Cas. XLiii. 22. 

Excavation of the Amphitheatre {i J 4&, 1 813- 181 6) : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 5-6, pt. 3, pp. 114 et seq., 185, 189. 

Remains: Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 4, pp. 77-S6, pi. 43-47; 
Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 69-74; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
pp. 97-127. 

Paintings [pp. 213, 214], Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 15 14, 151 5, 15 19: 
cf. also nos. 1512-1513, 1516-1518, and Sogliano. Le pitture murali Cam- 
pane, nos. 665-668. 

Inscriptions relating to the building, or found on it [pp. 212, 218, 219] : 
C. I. L. X. 852-859; painted inscriptions and graffiti, C. I. L. IV. pp. 7, 64- 
66, 159. 

Inscriptions relating to the games [pp. 221 et seq.] — announcements : 
C. I. L. IV. 1177-1204, Suppl. 3881-3884. Programme [p. 223] : C. I. L. 
IV. 2508. Cnstos^ ostiarins ab amphitheatro [p. 225] : C. I. L. VI. 6226, 
6228. Inscription of Salvius Capito [p. 225] : C. I. L. IX. 465, 466 (cf. also 
C. I. L. X. 4920). Names of gladiators, with their records [pp. 225-226] : 
C. I. L. IV., see Index, under gladiatores, p. 255. Graffiti in the house 
on Nola Street [p. 226] : C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 4277-4393; and Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 5 (1890), pp. 25-39, 64-65, vol. 7 (1892), p. 23. 

Combat between the Pompeians and the Nucerians [pp. 220. 221] : Tac. 



530 POMPEII 

Ann. XIV. xvii. Painting (Fig. loi ; found Ins. I. iii. 23), de Petra, 

L' Anfiteatro pompeiano rappresentato in un antico dipinto, giornale degli 
scavi di Pompei, Nuova Serie, vol. i (1869), pp. 185-187, pi. 8; Matz, Bull, 
deir Inst., 1869, pp. 240-241 ; Sogliano, Le pitture murali Campane, no. 604. 
Inscriptions [see p. 492] : C. I. L. IV. 1293 (with caricature, figured Museo 
Borb., vol. 6, pi. C), 1329, 2183. 

CHAPTER XXXI. STREETS, WATER SYSTEM, AND WAYSIDE 

SHRINES 

The streets [pp. 227-229] : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. i, pp. 25- 
26, pi. 2, 3, 14. 15, 35, 37, vol. 2, pp. 35-39, pi. 2-8; NissEN, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 516-572. Inscriptions on the pavement [p. 228], C. I. L. X. 
870, 871. 

The water system [pp. 230-233] : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 3, 
p. 27, pi. 13; MuRAXO, Pompei — donde venivano le acque potabili ai castelli 
acquarii (Naples, 1894) ; review of Murano's treatise by Mau, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 10 (1895), pp. 216-218. Age of the aquediict supplying Pompeii : Mau, 
Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1895) pp. 49-51. Recent investigation of the syston 
of sewers : Not. d. scavi, 1900, pp. 587-599. Water toivers of Cojistantinopie 
[p. 232] : VON Hammer, Geschichte des Osmanischen Reichs (10 vols., Pest, 
1827-1835), vol. 7. pp. 422, 598-599; cf. also Pardoe, Beauties of the Bos- 
phorus (London, 1839), PP- 24-25. 

Wayside shrines [233-236] : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 2, pi. 6; 
Gell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1852), pp. 97-98; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, 
pp. 242-244. Paintings of divinities on the oiitside of honses [p. 236] : 
Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 7-28 ; Sogliano, Le pitture murali Campane, 
nos. 1-4; serpents, Helbig, nos. 29, 30; Sogliano, nos. 5-8. Painting of 
the twelve gods : Gerhard, Intorno la pittura Pompeiana rappresentante i 
dodici dei, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 22 (1850), pp. 206-214. Inscription 

[p. 236] : C. I. L. IV. 813; cf. Pers. Sat. I. 113. 

CHAPTER XXXII. THE DEFENCES OF THE CITY 

Excavation of walls, gates, towers : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i,pt. i, 
pp. 154, 234-236, pt. 3, pp. 64-69, 76, 84-88, 96-97, 111-124, 131, 143-151? 
160, 168-170, vol. 2, pp. I, 501-506, 530, 593-597. 

Remaiiis : Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. i. pp. 33-37, 52-53, pi. 10- 
13? 35-37; Gell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1852), pp. 87-96, 98 ; Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 457-516; Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, pp. 211-215, 235-252; Mau, 
Geschicht der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 57-59. 

Oscan inscriptio]is [p. 240] : Zvetaieff, Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum, 
nos. 80-83, pi. 14 (nos. 7, 8), pi. 15, pi. 16 (no. 4) ; von Planta, Grammatik 
der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekte, vol. 2, p. 503 ; Conway, Italic Dialects, 



APPENDIX 531 

vol. I, pp. 69-71 ; Degerixg, Ueber die militarischen Wegweiser in Pompeji, 
Rom. Mitth., vol. 13 (1898), pp. 124-146; Mau, Die Oskischen Wegweiser- 
inschriften in Pompeji, Rom. Mitth., vol. 14 (1899), pp. 105-113. 

The Stabian Gate [p. 242] : Minervini, Strada e porta Stabiana, Bull. 
Arch. Napolitano, Nuova Serie, vol. i (1853), pp. 186-187 and pi. 8, fig. 10; 
FiORELLi, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, pp. 78-79, pi. 14, fig. 2. 

Minerva as patron divinity of city gates [p. 242] : that is, according to 
Greek usage, an indication of the strength of Greek influence at Pompeii. 
Among the Romans the divinity of city gates was Juno. Cf. Serv. Com. in 
Verg. ad Aen. II, 610. 

Inscription of Flacciis and Firnius [p. 242] : C.I.L. X. 1064. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 

Of the Pompeian and the Roman honse: Mazois, Essai sur les habitations 
des anciens romains, in Les mines de Pompei, vol. 2, pp. 3-34 (3 pis.) ; 
Mazois, Le palais de Scaurus (Paris, 18 19; Edit. 3, revised by Varcollier, 1861) ; 
Gell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1852), pp. 99-141 ; Zumpt, Ueber die bauliche Ein- 
richtung des romischen Wohnhauses (BerUn, 1844; Edit. 2, 1852) ; Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien, pp. 593-668 ; Viollet-le-Duc, Histoire de Thabitation hu- 
maine (Paris, 1875), ^^^ English translation under the title. The Habitations 
of Man in all Ages (Boston, 1876), Chap. 18; Lange, Haus und Halle, Stu- 
dien zur Geschichte des antiken Wohnhauses und der Basilica (Leipzig, 1885), 
especially pp. 50-59, 244-269 ; Guhl and Koxer, Das Leben der Griechen 
und Romer (Edit. 6, Berlin, 1893), pp. 558-580, and English translation 
from the third German edition. Life of the Greeks and Romans (London, 
'^^ll)'> §§ 75? 76; Marquardt, Das Privatleben der Romer (Edit. 2, Leipzig, 
1886), pp. 213-250; MiDDLETON, article Domus in Smith's Dictionary of 
Greek and Roman Antiquities, vol. i (Edit. 3, London, 1890), particularly 
pp. 684-687; Monceaux, Domus in Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire 
des antiquites grecques et romaines, vol. 2, pt. i, especially pp. 349-362. For 
remains of houses and villas in Britain, cf., e.g., Wright, The Celt, the 
Roman, and the Saxon (Edit. 4, London, 1885), passim; Scarth, Roman 
Britain (London, 1883), Chap. 18; and the special articles in Archaeologia 
(London, 1770 +). 

Inscriptions in Pompeiaji houses^ ijicliiding those in ?nosaic floors : C. I. L. 
X. 860-869, 872-875, 877-882. 

Fauces, or prothyron [p. 248] : Vitr. VI. iv. 6; Greexough, The Fauces 
of the Roman House, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. i (1890), 
pp. 1-12. 

Stone thresholds [p. 249] : Ivaxoff. Varie specie di soglie in Pompei ed 
indagine sul vero sito della fauce, Ann. deir Inst., vol. 31 (1859), pp. 82-108, 
pi. D-F; and Mon. delP Inst., vol. 6, pi. 28. 

Dangers of the streets of Rome at night [p. 250] : Juv. Sat. iii. 305-308. 

Kinds of atriums [p. 250], dime?isions [p. 252] : Vitr. VI. ill, iv. 



532 POMPEII 

Waterspouts of the compluvm?n [p. 251] : von Rohden, Die Terracotten 
von Pompeji, pi. 1-9. 

Gartibulutn [p. 254] : Var. de Ling. Lat. V. 125 ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
p. 641. 

Tablijtjcm [pp. 255-258] : Vitr. VI. iv (in), 5-6; Var. ap. Non. p. 83; 
NisSEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 643-644. 

Alae [p. 258] : Vitr. VI. iv (iii), 4, 6. 

Peristyle [p. 260] : Vitr. VI. iv (in), 7; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 645- 
668; BiE, Zur Geschichte des Hausperistyls, Jahrb. des. Inst., vol. 6 (1891). 
pp. 1-9. 

Tricliniu})i [p. 262] : Vitr. VI. v. i. Trimalchio's di?ii)ig rooms {cena- 

tiones) : Petr. Sat. lxxvii. 

Lares, Genius, and Penates ifi house paintings [p. 268] : Helbig, Wand- 
gemalde, nos. 31-95; Sogliano, Le pitture murali Campane, nos. 9-46, 63-71. 
Serpents : ibid., nos. 47-62 ; see also de Marchi, II culto privato di Roma 
antica, vol. i (Milan, 1896), pp. 27-144; Jordan, De Larum imaginibus atque 
cultu, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 34 (1862), pp. 300-339; Reifferscheid, De larum 
picturis Pompeianis, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 35 (1863), pp. 121-134; Jordan, 
De Genii et Eponae picturis Pompeianis nuper detectis, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 
44 (1872), pp. 19-47, and pi. B, C; Wissowa, Die Ueberlieferung liber die 
romischen Penaten, Hermes, vol. 22 (1887), pp. 29-57. 

Geniiis of a ivoinan as.Ju7io [p. 270] : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 2 (1887), 
p. 114. Jupiter and Ve?ius : Helbig, Wandgemailde, no. 67. Two genii 
(Ins. IX. viii. 13) : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 5 (1890), pp. 244-245. 

Shop fronts [p. 276]: cf. Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome (2 vols., 
London, 1892), vol. i, pp. 192-194. 

Pergula [p. 277]: Mau, Sul significato della parola pergula nell" archi- 
tettura antica, Rom. Mitth., vol. 2 (1887), pp. 214-220. Natus in pergula: 
Petr. Sat. lxxiv. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. THE HOUSE OF THE SURGEON 

Excavatio7i (1770): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 245-246, 
248, 253 et seq. (p. 254, discovery of the instruments from which the house 
takes its name). 

Plan, cotistr notion, restoration: Piranesi. Antiquite's de Pompei, vol. i, 
pi. 14-21 ; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 2, p. 51, and pi. 13 (plan) ; 
Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, pp. 79, 83; Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 402-412; Mau, Pomp. Beitrage, 37-41, 49-51 (proof that the 
measurements of the house conform to the Oscan standard); Overbeck-Mau, 
Pompeji, pp. 279-281 ; Greenough, Harvard Studies in Classical Philolog}', 
vol. I (1890), pp. lo-ii (plan showing conformity of the chief measurements 
to the proportions recommended by Vitruvius). 

Mural pai7itings : Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 1427-^, 1443, 1459? ^"<^ 
pp. cvin-cix with note 4 on p. cxxv ; cf. also Mau, Geschichte der dec. 



APPENDIX 533 

Wandmalerei, p. 66. For the woman painting, see Jahx, Abhandlungen der 
Konigl. sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, philologisch-hist. Classe, 
vol. 5, pp. 298-305, and pi. 5. 

CHAPTER XXXV. THE HOUSE OF SALLUST 

Excavatio7i (1806-1809): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 2, pp. 

Plan ^ restoration : Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. 2, pp. 75-79. pi. 
35-39; NissEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 652-654: Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, 
pp. 300-307. 

Decoration : above, pp. 459-460; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei. 
pp. 17-33, 112-114, 416-417, pi. 2; Helbig. Wandgemalde, nos. 51. 124, 
249^, 319, 373, 429, 465, 493, 746, 751, 900, 1055, 1255, 131 1 (cf. Topogr. 
Index, p. 467). In the Naples Museum are good copies of the paintings that 
are in the garden and near the open-air triclinium. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN 

Excavation (1830-1832): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2. pp. 240-255, 
vol. 3, pp. 113-118; Not. d. scavi., 1900, p. 31. 

Pla?i, construction: Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei. pp. 152-159; 
NissEN, Pomp. Studien. pp. 655-658; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 346-353. 

Wall decoration : Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 33-57, no- 
il i, 122-123, 140, 162, 263-264, pi. 2 ; NICCOLINI, Le case ed i monumenti di 
Pompei, vol. i. 

Mosaics: Museo Borb., vol. 7, pi. 62, vol. 8, pi. 36-45, vol. 9, pi. 55, vol. 14, 
pi. 14; Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 5, 6th series, pi. 20-29, 3^ ; 
Schreiber, Atlas of Classical Antiquities (Eng. trans., London, 1895), pi. 63 
(fish mosaic, with identification of species in the accompanying text); Marx, 
II cosidetto Akratos nella casa del Fauno, Rom. Mitth., vol. 7 (1892). pp. 26-31. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. A HOUSE NEAR THE PORTA MARINA 
Decoration: Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 96. 281. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE HOUSE OF THE SILVER WEDDING 

Excavation (1892-1893), plan^ decoration: Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 8 
(1893), pp. 14-61 ; cf. also Not. d. scavi. 1892. 

Dated inscription [p. 305]: C. I. L. I. (Edit. 2), p. 342 ; cf. also Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 8, pp. 30-31. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. THE HOUSE OF EPIDIUS RUFUS 

Excavation {\?>66), pla7i: Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, 
pp. 62-63 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 297-300. 

Decoration, paintings : Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 98-100 ; 
Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 59 <^, 231, 863 (^, 870 (^, 874*^, 885 b^ 892^, 967 <^. 



534 POMPEII 



CHAPTER XL. THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET 

Excavatio7i (1824-1825), plan, decoration: Fiorelli, Pomp ant. hist., 
vol. 2, pp. 1 16-135; Cell, Pompeiana (Edit, of 1832), vol. i, pp. 142-178; 
NiccoLiNi, le case ed i monumenti di Pompei, vol. i ; Overbeck-Mau, 
Pompeji, pp. 285-289. 

Pamtings : Helbig, Wandgemalde, see p. Lxxxvi. and Topogr. Index 
under Casa del poet a, p. 47 1 ; also Helbig, Le nozze di Giove e di Giunone, 
Ann. delP Inst., vol. 36 (1864), pp. 270-282. 

The Iphigenia of Timanthes [p. 319]; Cic. Orator, xxii. 74; Plin. N. H. 
XXXV. X. 73 ; Quint. Inst. orat. 11. xiii. 12, 13 ; Valer. Max. VIII. xi. ext. 6, 
with the comment of Lessing in the Laokoon, chap. 2, and the references 
given by BLtJMNER, Lessing's Laokoon (Berlin, 1876), pp. 36-37; cf. also 
Baumeister, Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums (3 vols., Munich, 1884- 
1888), vol. I, pp. 754-757, and Jex-Blake and Sellers, The Elder Pliny's 
Chapters on the History of Art (London, 1896), pp. 116-117, note 2. 

CHAPTER XLL THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII 

Excavation (i 894-1 895), pia?i, restoration, decoration, paintings: Mau, 
Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), pp. 3-97; Sogliano, Mon. dei Lincei, vol. 8 
(1898), pp. 233-416; Herrlich, Archaologischer Anzeiger, 1896, pp. 206- 
207 ; Mau, Amoren als Oelfabrikanten, Rom. Mitth., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 138- 
141 ; Mau, Amoren als Goldschmiede, Rom, Mitth., vol. 16 (1901), pp. 
1 09-1 16. 

CHAPTER XLII. THREE HOUSES OF UNUSUAL PLAN 

House of Acceptus arid Eiihodia (excavated in 1882) [p. 341] : Mau, Bull, 
deir Inst. 1884, pp. 126-132. 

House without a compluvium (excavated between 1890 and 1895) [p. 343] : 
Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1895), pp. 148-155. F2ires foras, frugi intra 
[p. 346] : paraphrase of the saying, Petr. Sat. lil, aquam foras, vinuin intro. 

House of the Einperor foseph //. (excavated in 1 767-1 769, filled up, and 
again excavated in 1885-1886) [p. 344] : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, 
pt. I, pp. 208-211, 227-234; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, vol. 2, pp. 73-74, 
pi. 32-34; Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 2 (1887), pp. 1 10-138. 

CHAPTER XLIII. OTHER NOTEWORTHY HOUSES 

House of Caecilius fucundus (excavated in 1875) : Mau, Bull, dell' Inst., 
1876, pp. 149-151, 160-168, 223-234; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, 
pp. 65, 414-415, 446, 450, pi. 13, 14, 18; Sogliano, Le pitture murali Cam- 
pane, nos. 133, 138, 158, 176, 192, 207, 214, 233, 236, 251, 291, 413, 448. 449' 
477, 514, 531, 561, 579, 582, 583, 589, 594, 607, 640, 651, 659, 669, 670, 674, 
675, 676, 677, 693, 700, 708, 809, 815, 816. 

House of Lucretius (excavated in 1847) '• Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, 
pp. 453, 459-473; Minervini, in Niccolini, Le case ed i monumenti di 



APPENDIX 535 

Pompei, vol. i; Museo Borb., vol. 14, pi. A, B; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 
314-320; Helbig, Wandgemalde, see Topogr. Index, p. 482. 

House of the Hunt (excavated in 1834): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 3, 
pp. 286-288 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 277-279; Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
see Topogr. Index, p. 473, under Casa della caccia antica; Mau, 
Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, p. 454. 

House of the Cente?iary (excavated in 1 879-1 880) : Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 
1881, pp. 1 13-128, 169-175, 221-238 ; 1882, pp. 23-32, 47-53, 87-91, 104-116, 
137-148 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 353-359 ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. 
Wandmalerei, pp. 287, 314, 321, 368, 382-385, 443-444^ 449? 452, 455 5 
SoGLiANO, Le pitture murali Campane, nos. 530, 585, 596, 628. 

House of the Sculptured Capitals (excavated in 1 831-1833) : Avellino, 
Descrizione di una casa pompeiana con capitelli figurati all' ingresso, dissotter- 
rata negli anni 1831, 1832 e 1833 (Naples, 1837), also in Mem. dell' Ace. 
Ercolanese, vol. 6 (1837) ; Niccolini, le case ed i monumenti di Pompei, 
vol. I ; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 225-227 ; Marquardt, Rom. 
Privatleben (Edit. 2), pp. 224 ff. ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, 
pp. 94, 374-379, 388, 430-431 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, see Topogr. Index, 

P- 473- 

House of Pans a (excavated in 1813-1827) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. I, pt. 3, pp. 116-161, vol. 2, pp. 195-197 ; Mazois, Les ruines de Pompei, 
vol. 2, p. 82, pi. 42-45; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 102-106; 
Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 325-329 ; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 658-659 ; 
Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 72-73 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
nos. 53, 115, 1014. 

House of Castor and Pollux (also known as house of the Dioscuri, and casa 
del Questore ; excavated in 1828-1829) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, 
pp. 205-221 ; Niccolini, op. cit., vol. i ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 334- 
342 ; Museo Borb., vol. 5 (see Relazione degli scavi di Pompei, at the end of 
the vol. ; 26 pp. text, with plan ; cf. also pi. 32, 33) ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. 
Wandmalerei, pp. 258, 372-373, 402, 420-421, 446, 455 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
pp. Lxxxv-Lxxxvi and Topogr. Index, p. 469. 

House of the Centaur (excavated in 1828-1829) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. 
hist., vol. 2, pp. 217-224; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 330-334; Mau, 
Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 75-78 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, see 
Topogr. Index, p. 469, under Casa del Centauro. For the large mosaic 
found in this house, known under the title •' Force conquered by Love," see Museo 
Borb., vol. 7, pi. 61 ; Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 5, series 6, pi. 30. 

House of Meleager (excavated in 1829-1830) : Fiorelli. Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. 2, pp. 224-240; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 307-314; Nissen, Pomp. 
Studien, pp. 426-427 ; Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 74, 373- 
374, 446, 453 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, pp. lxxxvii-lxxxviii and Topogr. 
Index, p. 468. 

House of Apollo (excavated in 1829-1830) : Fiorelll Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. 2, pp. 235-236; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, pp. 427-428; Mau, Geschichte 



536 POMPEII 

der dec. Wandmalerei, p. 454; Helbig, Wandgemailde, see Topogr. Index 
p. 467. 

Houses with mosaic fountains (excavated in 1 826-1 827) : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. 2, pp. 174-202; Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 125-126; Nicco- 
LiNi, op. cit.,vol. I ; Helbig, Wandgemailde, p. lxxxviii and Topogr. Index, 
p. 470. X. 

House of the Anchor (excavated in 1830): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. 2, pp. 237-239 ; Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 142-143 ; Mau, Geschichte 
der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 79-80, 258-259, 302, 396-397, 399, 422 ; Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, nos. 174, 334, 495, 564, 1220. 

House of the Citharist (excavation begun in 1853, completed in 1868) : 
Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, pp. 65-69; Fiorelli, De- 
scrizione di Pompei, pp. 61-65 \ Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 359-366 ; Mau, 
Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 64, 251-252, 315, 316, 318, 326, 335- 
336, 343r 367^ 389^ 397, 411-413^ 446. Paintings: Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
see Topogr. Index, pp. 482-483 ; Orestes and Pylades, Helbig, Oreste e 
Pilade in Tauride su dipinto Pompeiano, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 37 (1865), pp. 
330-346, and Mon. dell' Inst., vol. 8, pi. 22. Statue of Apollo [p. 352] : 
often reproduced, as by Overbeck, Atlas der griechischen Kunstmythologie, 
pi. 20, no. 26; Mon. delP Inst., vol. 8, pi. 13; Reinach, Repertoire de la 
statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. 2 (Paris, 1897), p. 97, no. 8; Brunn and 
Bruckmann, Denkmaler griechischer und romischer Sculptur, no. 302. See 
Kekule, Statua Pompeiana di Apolline, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 37 (1865), pp. 55- 
71 ; WOLTERS, Eine Spartanische Apollostatue, Jahrb. des Inst., vol. 11 (1896), 
pp. i-io; Furtwaengler, Meisterwerke der griechischen Plastik (Leipzig, 
1893), pp. 79, 80, and English translation by Eugenie Sellers, Masterpieces of 
Greek Sculpture (London, 1895), p. 52; Collignon, Histoire de la sculpture 
grecque, vol. 2 (Paris, 1897), pp. 665-666. 

House of Cornelius Rufus (excavated in 1861) : Fiorelli, Giornale degli 
scavi, vol. I (1861) ; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 340-342; Mau, 
Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, p. 97 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 

537-538- 

House of Marcus Holconius (excavated in 1861): Bull. Arch. Italian©, vol. 
I (1861-1862), pp. 18-143- Fiorelli, Giornale degli scavi, vol. i (1861), pp. 
13 et seq.; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 332-337; Overbeck-Mau, 
Pompeji, pp. 290-297. 

CHAPTER XLIV. ROMAN VILLAS. THE VILLA OF DIOMEDES 

Of Roman villas in general: Castell, The Villas of the Ancients Illus- 
trated (London, 1728) ; Friedlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms, Edit. 5, 
vol. 2, pp. 85-93, 170-193, vol. 3, pp. 89-100, Edit. 7, pp. 201-210; Schmidt, 
Cicero's Villen, neue Jahrblicher fiir das klas. Altertum, vol. 3 (1899). pp. 328- 
355, 466-497, particularly pp. 328-333 ; Winnefeld, Tusci und Laurentum des 
jlingeren Plinius, Jahrb. des Inst., vol. 6 (1892), pp. 201-217; Winnefeld, 



APPENDIX 537 

Die Villa des Hadrian bei Tivoli (Jahrb. des Inst., Erganzungsheft III, Berlin, 
1895) ; WiNNEFELD, Romische Villen der Kaiserzeit, Preussische Jahrbiicher, 
vol. 57 (1898), pp. 457 et seq. 

Villas ill the region about Baiae: Beloch, Campanien (Edit. 2, Berlin, 
1883), pp. 201-202, 269-274. 

Villas about Rome: Nibby, Dintorni di Roma (Edit. 2, 3 vols., Rome, 
1848-1849), vol. 3, pp. 31-41, 203, 647-737; De Rossi, II Tuscolo, le ville 
Tusculane e le loro antiche memorie cristiane, Bull, di Archeologia cristiana, 
1872, especially pp. 87-121 ; Lanciani, Le ville Tusculane (with map, tav. 20- 
21), Bull, com., 1884, pp. 172-217; Lanciani, La villa Castrimeniese di O. 
Voconio Pollione, ibid., pp. 141-171 ; Grossi-Gondi, Di una villa dei Quin- 
tilii nel Tusculano, Bull, com., 1898, pp. 313-338 ; Lanciani, The Destruction 
of Ancient Rome (New York, 1899), pp. 101-105 ; Grossi-Gondi, La villa dei 
Quintilii e la villa di Mondragone (Rome, 1901). 

Villa of the Laberii at Uthina (south of Tunis): Gauckler, Le domaine 
des Laberii a Uthina, Monuments et Memoires publiees par T Academic des 
Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, vol. 3 (Fondation Plot, Paris, 1897), pp. 177-229; 
Schulten, review of Gauckler's monograph, Gottingsche gelehrte Anzeigen, 
1898, pp. 475-481, and briefer report (with plan) in Archaologischer Anzeiger, 
Beiblatt zum Jahrb. des Inst, 1898, pp. 113-115. 

Villas in Britain : References to Chap. XXXIII, and Morgan, Roman 
British Mosaic Pavements (London, 1886). 

The Villa of Dioinedes (excavated in 1 771-1774): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. 
hist., vol. I, pt. I, pp. 249-278 ; Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, p. 89, pi. 47-53 ; 
Ivanoff, Architektonische Studien, Heft. 2 (mit Elaeuterungen von August 
Mau, BerHn, 1895), pi. 4-6; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 369-376; Mau, 
Pomp. Beitrage, p. 151 ; Helbig, Wandgemalde, see Topogr. Index, p. 483. 

Bedroom in Plinfs villa [p. 358]: Plin. Ep. II. xvii. 23. 

^ CHAPTER XLV. THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE 

Excavation^ plan^ remains : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 9 (1894), pp. 349-358, 
vol. II (1896), pp. 131-140 ; Pasqui, La villa pompeiana della Pisanella presso 
Boscoreale, Mon. dei Lincei, vol. 7 (1897), pp. 397-554. For the collection 
of silverware, see references on p. 538. Part of the objects of bronze found 
in the villa are in BerHn ; see Pernice, Bronzen aus Boscoreale, Archaologi- 
scher Anzeiger, Beiblatt zum Jahrb. des Inst., vol. 15 (1900), pp. 177-181. 
Others are in the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago ; see Tarbell, Ameri- 
can Journal of Archaeology, vol. 3 (1899), Second Series, p. 584. 

Sleeping room of the overseer near the entrance [p. 363] : Varro, R.R. I, 
xiii, 2. 

Small open cistern [p. 366] : As the establishment was not connected with 
an aqueduct, rain water was carefully saved. 

The villa as a country residence [p. 366] : In the farmhouses about Rome 
and Naples to-day rooms over the quarters of the tenant are reserved for the 
use of the owner. 



538 POMPEII 



CHAPTER XLVI. HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE 

Nearly all the articles of furniture and of the toilet referred to in this chapter 
are figured and described, with many others, in the Real Museo Borbonico. 
For detailed reference, see the Index, near the end of vol. i6 (pp. 96-97, Ori ; 
pp. 97-98, Argenti; pp. 99-112, Suppellettile), and our List of Illustrations, 
pp. xxi-xxiii. Most of them are reproduced by Roux, Herculanum et Pomp^i, 
vol. 7 ; a number are figured by Piranesi in the volume, Oggetti di uso civile, 
militare e religioso, trovati a Pompeia e ad Ercolano (= vol. 27 of his Opera). 
See also the references on the Pompeian and the Roman house [pp. 53 1-532], and 
Becker, Gallus (eighth English edition, London, 1886), pp. 285-301 ; Guhl 
and KONER, Life of the Greeks and Romans, §§ 86-93, 97 ; Friedlaender, 
Sittengeschichte Roms, Edit. 5, vol. 3, pp. 100-112, Edit. 7, vol. 2, pp. 210-220; 
Marquardt, Rom. Privatleben (Edit. 2), pp. 607-768. Cf. Mau, Fornelli 
antichi, Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1898), pp. 38-46. 

Silver cups foiuid in the Casa delV Ai'genteria [p. 379] : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. 2, p. 305. 

The treasure of Boscoreale [p. 380] : Heron de Villefosse, Le tresor de 
Boscoreale, Monuments et Memoires publics par TAcademie des Inscriptions 
et Belles-lettres, vol. 5 (Fondation Plot, Paris, 1899). fasc. i and 2; also 
MiCHAELis, Der Silberschatz von Boscoreale, Preussische Jahrblicher, vol. 
85 (1896), pp. 19-56; Winter, Der Silberschatz von Boscoreale, Archaolo- 
gischer Anzeiger, Beiblatt zum Jahrb. des Inst., vol. 11 (1896), pp. 74-87; 
cf. also COLLIGNON, Histoire de la sculpture grecque, vol. 2, pp. 681-682. 

Shallow bowl luith a representation of Alexandria [p. 380] : Two similar 
bowls were ornamented with realistic portrait heads of a man and a woman, 
which, to judge from the manner of dressing the hair, probably date from the 
reign of Claudius or Nero. The bowl containing the portrait of the woman 
had been lost, and the detached head is now in the British Museum. The 
other, with the rest of the collection (102 pieces) is in the Louvre. 

Beside Epicurus an eager pig [p. 381] : cf. Hor. Ep. 1. iv. 16, Epicuri de 
grege porcus. 

Greek inscription [p. 382] : Heron de Villefosse, op. cit., p. 59. 

ZQN MCTA Cwv/xera- 

AABerOrAP Aa/?e, to yap 

AYPIONAAH avpiovS.Sr}- 

AONeCTI Aoi/eo-rt 



CHAPTER XLVII. THE TRADES AT POMPEII. THE BAKERS 

Of the trades in general: Blumner, Technologie und Terminologie der 
Gewerbe und Kiinste bei Griechen und Romern (4 vols. ; Leipzig, 1875- 
1887) ; Marquardt, Rom. Privatleben, pt. 2 (Edit. 2; Leipzig, 1886). 



APPENDIX 539 

Inscriptions relating to the trades at Pompeii: C. I. L. IV., see Index, 
p. 256, under artes et officia privata. 

Signs of shops [p. 387] : Jordan, Ueber romische Ausbaiugeschilder, 
Archaiologische Zeitung, vol. 4 (1871), pp. 75 et seq. Inscription of Diogenes : 
C. I. L. X. 868 ; see the article, Aushangeschilder, by Mau, in Pauly-Wissowa, 
Realencyclopadie, vol. 2. pp. 2558-2559. 

Cupids as carpenters and shoemakers [p. 385] : Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
nos. 804, 805 ; the two paintings are often reproduced, as by Schreiber, 
Atlas of Classical Antiquities, English translation by Anderson (London, 
1895), pi. 72, I, and ']T^, 12. Stuccoer (tector) : Bull, dell' Inst., 1879, 
p. 134; SoGLiANO, Le pitture murali Campane, no. 655; Blumner, Ann. 
deir Inst., vol. 53 (1881), pp. 107-108, pi. H. 

Bakers and bakeshops [p. 388] : BlUmner, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 1-88 ; Mar- 
QUARDT, op. cit., pp. 414-424; FuLvio, Delle fornaci e dei forni pompeiani, 
Pompei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio nelP anno Lxxix. pp. 273-291 ; 
de Rossi, Antichi mulini in Roma e nel Lazio, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 29 (1857), 
pp. 274-281 ; Mau, Su certi apparecchi nei pistrini di Pompei, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. I (1886), pp. 45-48, and pi. 3. Processes of bread-making: best illus- 

trated in the reliefs of the monument of Eurysaces, Rome, shown in Mon. dell' 
Inst., vol. 2, pi. 58: cf. C. I. L. I. 1013-1015 ; Jahn, Sepolcro di Eurisace, 
Ann. deir Inst., vol. 10 (1838), particularly pp. 231-248. Leahies of bread 
represented in paintijigs : Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 1501, 1661 ff. ; see, 
e.g., Museo Borb., vol. 6, pi. 38, vol. 8, pi. 57. Remains of loaves fonnd at 
Po7npeii: Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, p. 172. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. THE FULLERS AND THE TANNERS 

Appliances and processes : Blumner, op. cit., vol. i,pp. 155-178, 257-287. 
A fuller description of the tannery, with illustrations showing the implements 
discovered, is given by Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 1874, pp. 271-275, 1875, 
pp. 18-25. 

No soap in Pompeii [p. 393] : Hofmann, Ueber vermeintliche antike Seife, 
Wiener Studien, vol. 4 (1882), pp. 263-270. 

Pictures illustrating the fullery [pp. 394-395] : Museo Borb., vol. 4, pi. 49, 
50; Helbig, Wandgemalde, no. 1502; Jahn, Abhandlungen der konigl. 
sachsischen Gesellschaft des Wissenschaften, philologisch-hist. Classe, vol. 5 
(1870), pp. 305-311, and pi. 4. 

CHAPTER XLIX. INNS AND WINESHOPS 

Roman imis : Friedlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms, Edit. 5, vol. 2, 
PP- 33-39' Edit. 7, vol. i, pp. 311-325. 

Inscriptions : caupones, copones, C. I. L. IV., see Index, p. 256 ; of Sittius, 
C. I. L. IV. 806, 807 (for the picture, see Helbig, Wandgemalde, no. 1601) ; 
of the inn, Ins. yil. xn, C. \. L. JV. 2144-2164. 



540 POMPEII 

Pictures illustrating the life of tJie wineshop [p. 403] : Fiorelli, Pomp, 
ant. hist., vol. 2, p. 204; Museo Borb., vol. 4, pi. A, vol. 5, pi. 48 ; Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, nos. 1487, 1504. 

Selling of wine mixed with water [p. 404] : a stock charge against ancient 
innkeepers ; Trimalchio (Petr. Sat. xxxix) makes out that these were born 
under the sign Aquarius, 'the waterer.' For the wineshop in which the 
graffito was found, see Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 1874, pp. 252-256. 

CHAPTER L. THE STREET OF TOMBS 

Of Roniaii tombs and rites of burial : Marquardt, Rom. Privatleben 
(Edit. 2), pp. 340-385: Freidlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms, Edit. 5, 
vol. 3, pp. 1 12-123, Edit. 7, vol. 2, pp. 220-228 ; Guhl and Koner, Life of the 
Greeks and Romans, %%']'], 78, no; Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome 
(1892), pp. 168-208, 253-305; VoLLMER, De funere publico Romanorum, 
Jahrblicher flir classische Philologie, Supplementband 19 (1893). pp. 319-364; 
see the article Bestattung, by Mau, in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopadie, vol. 3, 

pp. 346-359- 

Of the street of tombs as a whole : Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, vol. i ; 
Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 401-419; Nissen, Pomp. Studien, 
pp. 381-397; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 398-422. 

Tombs near the Hercidaneiim gate, not including the Garland tomb (ex- 
cavated 1763-1764, 1769-1770): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, 
pp. 150-155, 234-241, pt. 2, pp. 110-118 (journal of Francesco la Vega); 
Piranesi, Antiquites de Pompei, vols, i, 2, pi. 2-5, 34-44. Sepulchral 
eftclosure of Terentius Felix (excavation finished December 15, 1828): 
Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 2, p. 217; Bonucci, Pompei decrite (seconde 
traduction de la 3"^ edition italienne, Naples, 1830), p. 73. The tomb nearest 
the gate on the right : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 3 (1888), pp. 140-142. 

Tombs farther from the gate, to the limit of excavation ( excavated 1 806- 
1813): Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. 2, pp. 87, 176-177, (Garland 
tomb), pt. 3, pp. 74-120, 223-225, 249; Millin, Description des tombeaux 
qui ont ete decouverts a Pompei dans Tannee 1812 (Naples, 1813); Clarac, 
Fouille faite a Pompei en presence de S. M. la Reine des Deux Siciles le 18 
Mars, 1813 (Naples, 1813). To7nb of the blue glass vase (i^-^j) : Fiorelli, 
Pomp. ant. hist., vol. 3, p. 132; Schulz, in his Scavi di Pompei, Ann. d»ir 
Inst., vol. 10 (1838), pp. 194-195. Tomb of Diomedes (excavated in 1775) : 

Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i, pp. 279-280. Tomb of Istacidius 
Helenus (1775, 1828) : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., vol. i, pt. i. pp. 279-280, 
vol. 2, p. 217. The pre-Roman graves [p. 407] : Mau and von Duhn, Bull, 
deir Inst., 1874, pp. 156-167 ; earlier finds of pointed vases, Bonucci, Pompei 
(1830), p. 65; and DE Iorio, Plan de Pompei et remarques .sur ses edifices 
(Naples, 1828), p. 33. 

T. Suedius Clemens [pp. 407-408 ; cf. also p. 488] : Clemens was now 
evidently a supporter of Vespasian; previously he had been in the service of 
Otho (Tac. Hist. I. Lxxxvn, II. xii). 



APPENDIX 



541 



Blue glass vase [p. 415] : Schultz, Anforina di vetro con bassirilievi 
rinvenuta in Pompei, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 11 (1839), pp. 84-100. 

Gladiatorial scenes on the to7nb of Scaurns [p. 419] : admirably engraved 
by Mazois (op. cit., pi. 30, 31, 32), and frequently reproduced, as by 
SCHREIBER, Atlas of Classical Antiquities (Eng. trans., 1895), pi. 30, 2-9, 
text, with citation of literature, p. 59 ; Niccolini, le case ed i monumenti di 
Pompei, vol. i. Inscriptions accompanying the figures: C. I. L. IV. 11 82; 
the inscription of the tomb itself is given, C. I. L. X. 1024. In his in- 
terpretation of the reliefs Mazois incorrectly assumed (op. cit., pp. 47-48) 
that on account of the baiting of a bear by one of the figures with a cloth the 
tomb could not have been built before the time of Claudius. The passage 
cited by him (Plin. N. H. VIII. xvi. 54) has no bearing on the date; but 
the tomb of Scaurus, which belongs neither to the oldest nor to the most 
recent, may well have been built in the time of Claudius or of Nero. 

Ship on the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche [p. 423] : Jordan. Ann. deir 
Inst., vol. 44(1872), pp. 20-26; ViscoNTi, Fronte di Sarcofago con Tritoni 
e navi, Bull. Com., vol. i (1872-1873), pp. 255-269; cf. Cic. De Sen. xix. 71. 
Petronius (Sat. lxxi.) humorously represents Trimalchio as ordering 'ships 
under full sail ' among the carvings of his tomb. 

Inscription of Sah'ius [p. 426] : found, according to C. I. L. X. 1032, be- 
side the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche; but we have the testimony of Bonucci 
(Pompei, 1830, p. 37) to the effect that it was found in the niche where it now 
is, where it exactly fits the cavity. The mistake in the Corpus may have 
arisen from a misunderstanding of the report of the excavation, which is now 
unfortunately lost. 

M. Alleins Luccins Libella [p. 426] : the name was originally Luccius 
Libella, with what praenomen is not clear ; but Luccius Libella married the 
daughter of M. Alleius (M. Alleius Nigidius Mains?) and was adopted by him, 
assuming his praenomen and nomen, so that the full name took the form given 
in the inscription. The son dropped the original nomen Luccius, and was 
called simply M. Alleius Libella. In like manner the name of the son of 
D. Lucretius Satrius Valens became D. Lucretius Valens [p. 222]. 

CHAPTER LI. BURIAL PLACES NEAR THE NOLA, STABIAN, 
AND NOCERA GATES 

Bnrial places near the iVola Gate [p. 429] : Fiorelli, Pomp. ant. hist., 
vol. 2, pp. 594-597 ; NisSEN, Pomp. Studien, pp. 480-483. 

Graves east of the Stabian Road [p. 429] — earlier finds : Fiorelli, 
Pom.p. ant. hist., vol. i. pt. i. pp. TI-12. 14. 42, 46-48. 50, 51-52 ; C. I. L. X. 
1047-1062; Rom. Mitth., vol. 10 (1895), p. 226, 7. Later finds : Not. d. 
scavi, 1893, pp. 333-335. 1894. pp. 15-16, 382-385. 1897, pp. 275-276; Mau, 
Scavi fiiori porta Stabiana. Rom. Mitth.. vol. 9 (1894). pp. 62-65. vol. 10 
(1895), pp. 156-159- 

Tond)s near the Stabian Gate [p. 430] : Not. d. scavi. 1889. pp. 280-281, 



542 POMPEII 

368-369, 406-410, 1890, pp. 44-45, 165 ; Mau, Scavi fuori porta Stabiana, 
Rom, Mitth., vol. 5 (1890), pp. 277-284. The inscriptions are given also in 
Ephem. Epigr., vol. 8, pp. 87-88 (nos. 318, 325, 327. 330). 

Tombs near the Auiphitheatre [p. 431] : Not. d. scavi, 1886, pp. 334-337, 
1887, pp. 33-40, 452-458; Mau, Sepolcri della via Nucerina, Rom. Mitth., 
vol. 3 (1888), pp. 120-149. ^or the inscriptions, see also Ephem. Epigr., 
vol. 8, pp. 88-90 (320, 321, 324, 326, 328, 329, 332); advertisement of the 
stray horse, Rom. Mitth., vol. 3, p. 145. 

Desecration of tombs near Rome [p. 436] : Lanciani, The Destruction of 
Ancient Rome, pp. 89-98. 

CHAPTER LII. ARCHITECTURE 

Doric frieze with red metopes [p. 441] : there is a similar frieze in the 
house VII. III. 31 ; see Mau, Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, p. 97. 

CHAPTER LIII. SCULPTURE 

Of the scidptiires found at Pompeii: Very few of the sculptures unearthed 
at Pompeii are treated or reproduced in the comprehensive works on ancient 
sculpture. The more important statues and reliefs found prior to 1865, as well 
as those discovered in Herculaneum, are published in the Real Museo Bor- 
bonico, with descriptive text; see the Index at the end of vol. 16, pp. 8-34. 
They are reproduced also by Roux, with descriptive text by Barre, Hercula- 
num et Pompei, vols. 6 and 7 (first part). These engravings, while in many 
cases faulty, are often serviceable to students at a distance in the identification 
of photographs, which are easily obtained through the Naples dealers. The 
better terra-cottas are published by Von Rohden, Die Terracotten von Pom- 
peji (Stuttgart, 1880). A somewhat fuller treatment of Pompeian sculpture is 
given in Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 532-563. 

Heads of Epicurus^ Demostheiies^ and Callimachns [p. 447] : Mau, Bull, 
deir Inst., 1876, pp. 242-243 ; Brizio, Ann. dell' Inst., vol. 45 (1873), PP- 9^- 
106; MoMMSEN and Robert, Archaologische Zeitung, 1880, pp. 32-36; 
Comparetti, La Villa Ercolanese dei Pisoni (Torino, 1883), pp. 33-53, pi- III, 
nos. 4, 7, 8 ; Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 1883, pp. 89-96; for other references, see 
Helbig, Flihrer durch die bflfentlichen Sammlungen klassischer Altertumer in 
Rom (Edit. 2, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1899), vol. i, p. 319, no. 476. 

Busts of Virgil and Horace [p. 448] (found in October, 1868) : Giornale 
degli scavi di Pompei, Nuova Serie, vol. i (1868), p. 133 and pi. i ; Fiorelli, 
Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, p. 164; Bernoulli, Romische Ikono 
graphic, vol. i (Stuttgart, 1882), pp. 127, 192; Helbig, Flihrer durch die 
offentlichen Sammlungen klassischer Altertumer in Rom (Edit. 2), vol. i, 
pp. 355-356. A further reason why Brutus cannot be represented in the 
Naples bust is that the similar bust in the Capitoline Museum in Rome 
(Helbig, op. cit., no. 536) shows a person well on in years, while the promi- 
nence of Brutus lasted only for a brief period, and it is not likely that there 



APPENDIX 543 

should be preserved to us portraits representing him at periods so entirely 
different. Susa mosaic : Comptes rendus de TAcademie des Inscriptions et 
Belles-lettres, serie 4, vol. 24 (Paris, 1896), pp. 578-581 and pi. after p. 580; 
Gauckler, Les Mosaiques virgiliennes de Sousse, Monuments et Memoires 
publiees par TAcademie des Inscriptions et Belleslettres, vol. 4 (Fondation 
Plot, 1897), pp. 233-234; Fowler, Portraits of Virgil, School Review, vol.6 
(1898), pp. 598-605; Archaologischer Anzeiger, Beiblatt zum Jahrb des Inst., 
vol. 13 (1898), p. 114. 

Aphrodite a?id Spes [p. 450]: Mau, Bull. delP Inst., 1873, PP- 233-235. 

Artonis [p. 450]: often reproduced, as Museo. Borb., vol. 2, pi. 8; Roux, 
Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 6, pi. 76, -]-] ; Brunn and Bruckmaxn, Denk- 
maler griechischer und romischer Sculptur, no. 356. Identification with 

Artejnis Laphria (Paus. VII. xviii. 9) : Studxiczka, Die archaische Artemis- 
statuette aus Pompeii, Rom. Mitth., vol. 3 (1888), pp. 277-302, and pi. 10; 
COLLIGNON, Histoire de la sculpture grecque, vol. 2 (Paris, 1897), pp. 656-657. 

Dancijig satyr [p. 450] : Museo Borb.. vol. 9, pi. 42; Roux, Herculanum 
et Pompei, vol. 6, pi. 59; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 549-551. 

Sileniis ca7'ryiiig frame with glass vase [p. 451] : Museo Borb., vol. 16, 
pi. 29; Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, p. 159; Overbeck- 
Mau, Pompeji, p. 552. 

Listening Dionysus [p. 452] : Giornale degli scavi di Pompei. 1862, p. 60 
and pi. 14; Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872, pp. 158-159: 
Benxdorf, Sulla statua Pompeiana creduta di Narcisso, Ann. delP Inst., 
vol. 38 (1866), pp. 107-113 ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji, pp. 552-555 ; Hauser, 
Narcisso, Jahrb. des Inst., vol. 4 (1889), pp. 113-118 ; Colligxon, Histoire de 
la sculpture grecque, vol. 2, pp. 451-453 ; Museo Borb., vol. 16, pi. 28 ; Bruxn 
and Bruckmaxx, Denkmaler, no. 384. Hauser in the article cited makes it 
appear probable that the figure had originally a somewhat different pose ; the 
right foot rested flat upon the base, the left only on the heel, so that the body, 
instead of leaning forward, was slightly bent back. The present pose, how- 
ever, was given to the figure in antiquity ; according to G. Patroni, the wedge 
of lead under the right foot was in its present place when the statuette was 
discovered. 

Ephebiis of igoo [p. 453] : Not. d. scavi, 1900, pp. 584-587 (7 illustra- 
tions) ; SOGLIAXO, L'efebo in bronzo rinvenuto in Pompei, Mon. dei Lincei, 
vol. 10 (1901), pp. 641-654, pi. 16-26. This statue is assigned to the Roman 
period by Waldstein, The Monthly Review, 1901, pp. 125-126, and Peter- 
sex, Rom. Mitth., vol. 16 (1901), p. 96. 

CHAPTER LIV. PAINTING. WALL DECORATION 

Techfiigue of Poinpeian painting : Doxxer, Die erhaltenen antiken Wand- 
malereien in technischer Beziehung, printed as an introduction to Helbig's 
Wandgemalde (see Chap. LV.), pp. i — cxxvii ; Mau, Geschichte der deco- 
rativen Wandmalerei in Pompeji (Berlin. 1882 ; with atlas of 20 plates). 



544 POMPEII 

Specimen ilhistratiojis : Many entire walls as well as single paintings are 
reproduced in color in the extensive works by Zahn, Die schonsten Orna- 
mente und merkwurdgsten Gemalde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae, 
nebst einigen Grundrissen und Ansichten (Mit deutschem und franzbsischem 
Text. Drei Abtheilungen in 30 Heften, 502 Tafeln. Berlin, 1 827-1 859) ; 
and NiccOLiNi, Le case ed i raonumenti di Pompei designati e descritti 
(Naples, 1854-1901). Both works are rarely found complete, and the plates 
of the second in particular leave much to be desired in respect to draw- 
ing as well as coloring ; it has therefore been thought best not to encum- 
ber these notes with detailed references to them. A number of walls are shown 
also by Roux, Herculanum et Pompei (8 vols., Paris, 1840), vol. i (108 plates), 
and by D'Amelio, Dipinti Murali di Pompei, Naples, 1888. Professor Mau 
has in preparation a new work on wall decoration which will be illustrated by 
colored plates similar to those in the atlas to his Wandmalerei. The sources 
of the illustrations in this and the following chapter are given in our List of 
Illustrations, p. xxv. 

Preparation of the wall [p. 456J : Vitr. VII. ill; cf. also Middleton, 
The Remains of Ancient Rome (2 vols. London, 1892), vol. i, pp. 91-103. 

Decoration of the house of Lncretiits [p. 457] : see references on p. 528. 

The four styles of decoration [p. 457] : suggestive critical comments by 
WiCKHOFF, Roman Art (English trans, by Mrs. S. Arthur Strong, London, 
1900), pp. 117 fif. ; but see the review of the German original by Mau, Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 10 (1895), pp. 227-235. 

Decoration of the second style in Rome [p . 462] — house of Germaniciis on 
the Palatine: Mau, Due pareti d\ma stanza sul Palatino, Ann. delP Inst., vol. 
52 (1880), pp. 136-149, and Mon. dell' Inst., vol. 11, pi. 22-23; Mau, 
Geschichte der dec. Wandmalerei, pp. 196-205 and pi. 9. House in the 
Far nesina garden: Not. d. Scavi, 1879, PP- ^5' 4°? 68, 114, 141, 179-180,267, 
314, 333, 1880, pp. 32, 127-128, 138-140, and pi. 4 (plan) ; Mau, Parete 
dipinta della casa antica scoperta nel giardino della Farnesina, Ann. dell' Inst., 
vol. 54 (1882), pp. 301-308; HtJLSEN, Fregio dipinta nella casa antica 
scoperta nel giardino della Farnesina, ibid., pp. 309-314; Mau, Pitture della 
casa antica scoperta nella villa Farnesina, Ann. dell' Inst., vol. 56 (1884), 
pp. 307-322, vol. 57 (1885), pp. 302-318; Mon. deir Inst., vol. 11, pi. 44- 
48, vol. 12, pi. 5, 5<2, 7, 7<^, 8, 17-34; Supplemento (1891), pi. 32-36; espe- 
cially Lessing and Mau, Wand- und Deckenschmuck eines romischen 
Hauses aus der Zeit des Augustus (Berlin, 1891 ; with 16 plates from the 
same blocks as those in the Mon. dell' Inst.) ; Helbig, Fuhrer durch die 
Sammlungen klassischer Altertumer in Rom, vol. 2, pp. 226-223, nos. 1107- 
1108, 1119-1122, 1 124, 1129-1136, 1141-1144, 1146-1148, 1 151. 

CHAPTER LV. THE PAINTINGS 

Of the paintings in general: the paintings discovered prior to 1868 are 
described, with references to the literature, by W. Helbig, Wandgemalde der 



APPENDIX 545 

vom Vesuv verschiitteten Stadte Campaniens (Nebst einer Abhandlung liber 
die antiken Wandmalereien in Technischer Bezielumg, von Otto Donner, 
Leipzig, 1868) ; those discovered after the pubhcation of Heibig's work and 
before 1880, by A. Sogliano, Le pitture murah Campane scoverte negh anni 
1 867-1 879 (supplement© air opera dell' Helbig, Naples, 1879. Published also 
in the volume, Pompei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio, for which see 
p. 513) ; those that have come to light since 1879 ^''^ described by Mau in 
his reports (see note to Chap. IV) and in the Notizie degli scavi • cf. also 
Helbig, Untersuchungen liber die campanische Wandmalerei (Leipzig, 1873). 
Besides the reproductions of paintings by Zahn and Niccolini mentioned 
above (p. 544), the more important examples are published in the Real Museo 
Borbonico (see Index at the end of vol. 16, pp. 37-58) ; Roux, Herculanum 
et Pompei, vols. 1-5 (Paris, 1840) ; Rochette, Choix de peintures de Pom- 
pei, la plupart de sujet historique (lithographiees en couleur par M. Roux, et 
publiees . . . par M. Raoul-Rochette ; 7 livraisons in fol., Paris, '1844-1853, 
incomplete) ; Presuhn, Pompeji, Die neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 
1881 (Edit. 2, Leipzig, 1882 ; 80 chromolithograph plates) ; and in other works 
the titles of which are easily accessible in Furchheim's BibHografia. The 
colored plates presented by A. Niccolini, Arte Pompeiana Monumenti scelti 
(a selection of 55 plates from the larger work, Naples, 1888), give a false idea 
of the paintings reproduced. 

No evidence of development in composition or technique [p. 47 1 ] : cf. Wick 
HOFF, Roman Art, pp. 139 fF. 

Hercules and Antaeus [p. 472] : Bull, dell' Inst., 1876, p. loi ; Sogliano, 
Le pitture murali Campane, no. 495. 

Mosaic pictures on the floor [p. 472] : as in the house of the Faun ; see 
references on p. 533. For the Pompeian mosaics in general, see Gli ornati 
delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze delP antica Pompei, 3 vols. Naples, 
1796-1808, vols. I and 2; Museo Borb., Index at the end of vol. 16, pp. 35- 
37; Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 5 (latter part, 32 plates). 

Group of Admetus and Alcestis in architectural framework [p. 473J : 
Sogliano, op. cit., no. 506. 

Seafights [p. 474] : Helbig, Wandgemailde, nos. 1 576-1 580 (those of the 
Macellum are shown in a colored plate by Mazois, Les mines de Pompei, 
vol. 3, pi. 46); Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), p. 56, nos. 113-116, and 
Sogliano, Mon. dei Lincei, vol. 8 (1898), p. 310, fig. 33; cf. also Sogliano 
op. cit., nos. 669-670. 

Xenia [p. 474] : Vitr. VI. vii (x) 4; Helbig, Wandegemalde, nos. 1661- 
1718. P^or fig. 266 cf. Museo. Borb., vol. 6, pi. 38 ; Helbig, no. 1690. 

La7idscapes [p. 475] : Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 3 (end ; 30 plates) ; 
Helbig, Wandgemalde, pp. 385-394; Sogliano, op. cit., pp. 141 -144. 

Tadius, Ludius [p. 475] : Plin. N. H. XXXV. x. 116. In Mayhoff's text 
(vol. 5, 1897) the name is given as Studius. Cf. Helbig, Beitrage zur erkla- 
rung der campanischen Wandbilder, Rhein. Mus., vol. 25 (1870), pp. 393- 
407. Decoration of the villa at Prima Porta: Brunn, Scavi di Prima 



546 POMPEII 

Porta, Bull. delP Inst., 1863, pp. 81-86; Antike Denkmaler des Kaiserlich 
deutschen Archaologischen Instituts, vol. i (1890), pi. 11, 24. 

Group of inusicians [p. 476]: Museo Borb., vol. i, pi. 30; Helbig, 
Wandegemailde, no. 1442. 

Paquius Prociihis and his wife [p. 477] : Bull. delP Inst., 1868, p. 204; 
SOGLIANO, op. cit., no. 673. 

Btists of youths with the names of Homer and Plato [pp. 477-478] : found 
in 1892 in the tablinum of the small house joined to the house of the Silver 
Wedding [fig. 146, S] ; reproduced, with fuller description, Rom. Mitth., vol. 
8 (1893), pp. 19-23- 

Pai?itings of Achilles in the house of Castor and Pollux [p. 478] : Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, nos. 1297, 1307. 

Scenes of combat [p. 478] — Hercules^ from Herculaneuin : Pitture di Erco- 
lano, vol. 3, pi. 47, p. 247 ; ibid., vol. 4, pi. 5, p. 27 ; and Museo Borb., vol. 11, 
pi. 9; Helbig, Wandgemalde, nos. 1124, 1125. Meleager and the boar: 
FiORELLi, Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 40, 382 ; Sogliano, op. cit., nos. 508, 
509. Achilles and the fleeing Troilus : Bull, dell' Inst., 1868, p. 37 ; Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, pp. 460-461 ; cf. also Sogliano, op. cit., no. 548. Combat 

between warrior and Amazoii: Bull. delP Inst., 1871, p. 204; Sogliano, op. 
cit., no. 547, cf. also no. 548. 

lo and Argus, lo in Egypt [p. 479] : Museo Borb., vol. 2, pi. 12, vol. 10, 
pi. 2 ; Roux, Herculanum et Pompei, vol. 2, pi. 59; Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
nos. 131, 138. Cf. Braun, Elenco dei monumenti rappresentanti il mito di 
lo, Ann. deir Inst., vol. 10 (1838), pp. 328-330, and Mon. delP Inst., vol. 2, 
pi. 59. 

Hecuba [p. 479] : Bull, dell' Inst., 1877, p. 13; Mau, Ettore riportato a 
Troia, pittura paretaria di Pompei, Ann. delF Inst., vol. 49 (1877), pp. 268- 
279, and pi. O, P (colored, at the end of the volume) ; Sogliano, op. cit., 
no. 579. 

Narcissus, Polyphemus, Apollo, and Admetus [pp. 479-480] : Helbig, 
Wandgemalde, nos. 1338-1367, Sogliano, op. cit., nos. 586-592; Helbig, 
nos. 220-222, 1048. 

Idyllic pictures [p. 480] — Selene and Endymio7i : Helbig, Wandgemalde, 
nos. 950-962 ; Sogliano, op. cit., nos. 456-457. Paris and Oenojie : Hel- 
big, no. 1280. Perseus and Andromeda : Helbig, nos. 11 92-1 198. Bac- 
chus and Ariadne: Helbig, nos. 1235-1240; Sogliano, no. 538; Rom. 
Mitth., vol. II (1896), pp. 52-53 (no. 98, house of the Vettii). Herctdes 
attd Omphale: Helbig, nos. 1136-1140; cf. Sogliano, nos. 496,497. 

Exainpies of a pathetic situatioji [p. 480] — Aphrodite and the wounded 
Adonis: Helbig, nos. 335-340; Sogliano, no. 142. Cyparissus : So- 
gliano, nos. 109, no; Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), p. 19 (no. 36, with illus- 
tration, house of the Vettii). Europa and the btdl : Sogliano, no. 79; 
cf. Helbig, nos. 123-130. 

Groups with figures in contrast [p. 480] — Hephaestiis and Thetis: Helbig, 
nos. 1316-1318^. Daedalus and Pasiphae : Helbig, nos. 1205-1208; Rom. 



APPENDIX 547 

Mitth., vol. II. pp. 49-51 (with illustration, house of the Vettii). Da7iae 
cast away : Helbig, nos. 119-121 ; Sogliano, nos. 76-78. 

Paintings in groups [p. 481]: Trendelenburg, Gegenstucke in der 
Wandmalerei, Archaologische Zeitung, vol. 9 (1876), pp. 1-8, 79-93. Group 
of three paintings, Achilles : Bull. delP Inst., 1879, PP- 51-54 (I^^s. IX. v. 2) ; 
Sogliano, nos. 572, 576, 577. Group of two, Polypheinus, Aphrodite fish- 
ing: Bull, deir Inst., 1876, pp. 49-50; Sogliano, nos. 146, 472 (Ins. VI. 
XIV. 28) ; Helbig, nos. 354, 1049 (house of Lucretius). Group of twoj 
Europa and Pan: Sogliano, nos. 79, 196 (Ins. IX. v. 18). Double 
group, Hercules and Artemis, Athena and Marsyas : Rom. Mitth., vol. 5 
(1890), pp. 263-269 (with illustrations), vol. 6 (1891), pp. 71-72 (Ins. V, 
II. 10). 



CHAPTER LVI. MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS AND PUBLIC 

NOTICES 

Publication : in the notes to the preceding chapters references have been 
given to the place of publication of nearly all the monumental inscriptions, 
both Latin and Oscan ; the Latin inscriptions on stone are classified C. I. L. 
X. 787-1079, with a supplementary collection, Ephem. Epigr., vol. 8, pp. 86- 
90 (nos. 311-332); cf. also Not. d. scavi, 1898, pp. 422-423. The Oscan 
inscriptions of all classes are published by Zvetaieff, Sylloge Inscriptionum 
Oscarum (with 19 plates of facsimiles; St; Petersburg and Leipzig, 1878); 
Inscriptiones Italiae inferioris mediae (with 11 plates; Moscow and Leipzig, 
1886) ; VON Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekte (2 vols., 
Strassburg, 1892, 1897), vol. 2, pp. 499-510 (nos. 28-116) ; Conway, The Italic 
Dialects (2 vols., London, 1897), vol. 2, pp. 54-81 (nos. 39-86). The pubhc 
notices are collected in C. I. L. IV. pp. 1-75 (nos. 1-1204), pp. xvi-xvii (nos. 
3256-3296), and the Supplement, pt. 2, which is in press, pp. 467-499 (nos. 
3341-3884). 

House of Aeniilius Celer [p. 486] : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 4 (1889), pp. 
118-119. 

Election notices [p. 487] — M. Marius : C. I. L. IV. 3. Publius Furius : 
ibid., 67. Herennius Celsus: ibid., 299. Casellius : ibid., 223 et al., 
and Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), p. 96. Holconius Priscus: C. I. L. 
IV. 157. hie aerarium conservabit : C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 3702. Clau- 
dius Verus : C. I. L. IV. 367, Suppl. 5229, and often between nos. 3707 and 
3828. 

Election notices [pp. 488-489] — Helvius Sabinus : C. I. L. IV. 787. M. 
Epidius Sabinus : ibid., 470. Sabinus: ibid., 635. Epidius Sabinus : ibid., 
787. Vatia: ibid., 575, 576, 581. Claudius: ibid., 425. 

Notices to rent — insula of Nigidius Mains [p. 489] : C. I. L. IV. 138. 
Property offulia Felix [p. 490] : ibid., 11 36. 

Offer of reward [p. 490] : C. I. L. IV. 64. 



548 POMPEII 



CHAPTER LVII. THE GRAFFITI 

Publication: the graffiti are collected, C. I. L. IV. pp. 76-166 (nos. 1205- 
2549 <:), pp. xvii-xviii (nos. 3297-3339), and Suppl., pt. 2, pp. 499-599 (nos. 
3885 et seq.). Cf. Correra, Graffiti di Roma, Bull, com., 1893, pp. 245-260, 
1894, pp. 89-100, and pis. ii-vi, 1895, pp. 193-216. 

Admir or, paries [p. 491] : found in the Large Theatre, the Amphitheatre, 
and the Basilica; C. I. L. IV. 1904, 2461, 2487; Bull. delP Inst., 1867, pp. 
50-53; Bull, com., 1894, p. 99; BuECHELER, Carmina Latina epigraphica, 
no. 957 (vol. I, Leipzig, 1895), p. 440. References to writing on walls in 
attcient authors: Plin. Epist. VIII. viii. 7; Mart. Ep. XII. LXi, 7-10; Cic. 
In Verr. III. xxxiii. ']'] . Metrical graffiti: Buecheler, Die metrischen 
Wandinschriften, Rhein. Mus., vol. 12 (1857), pp. 250-260. 

Graffiti relatiiig to the conflict in the A?nphitheatre [p. 492] : see references 
on pp. 529-530. 

Praetorian guard [p. 492] : C. I. L. IV. 1994. 

Names and greetings [p. 493] — Paris, Sabinus : C. I. L. IV. 1245, 1305. 
Aemilius: C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 5350. Sainins, Pyrrhus: C. I. L. IV. 1864, 
1852. 

Love [p. 494] — Qnisqtiis ajnat : Bull. delP Inst., 1876, p. 233 ; C. I. L. IV. 
Suppl. 4091 ; cf. C. I. L. IV. 1 173, 3199; Buecheler, Carm. Lat. epigr., nos. 
945, 946, Nemo est bellus : C. I. L. IV. 1883; Buecheler, 233; Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 13 (1898), p. 45. Nam nemo flammas : C. I. L. IV. 1898; 
Buecheler, 948. Alliget hie auras: C. I. L. IV. 1649; Buecheler, 944. 
Si qiiis forte meam: C. I. L. IV. 1645 ; Buecheler, 953, 954. 

Quotations a?id paraphrases [p. 495]: Propert. II. v. 9 ; C. I. L. IV. 
Suppl. 4491 ; Bull, deir Inst., 1875, p. 191 ; Ovid, Ars Am. I. 475-476, and 
C. I. L. IV. 1895. 

Lovers'' fnessages [p. 495] — Victoria: C. I. L. IV. 1477. Cestilia: ibid., 
2413 h. Pupa: ibid., 1234; Buecheler, no. 232. Serena: Bull, dell' 
Inst., 1874, p. 269; C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 3928-3930. Si quid ainor : Not. d. 
scavi, 1883, p. 53; Buecheler, no. 935. 

Lovers'' co7nplaints [p. 496] : 7>/, dea .-C.I.L.IV. 23iO/('. Quoted coup- 
lets Joined: ibid., 1893, 1894. Threat against Venus: ibid., 1824; Rom. 
Mitth., vol. 8 (1893), p. 59 (no. 29) ; Buecheler, no. 947. 

Records of tarryijig [p. 496] — Romula: C. I. L. IV. 2060. Staphilus: 
C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 4087. Restitidus: Rom. Mitth., vol. 7 (1892), p. 25; 
Buecheler, 355. Varjis and Pelagia: C. I. L. IV. 2321. Balbus and 
Fortunata: Bull. delP Inst., 1883, p. 195 ; C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 4933. 

Greeting of Hirtia Psacas [p. 497]. Bull, dell' Inst., 1894, p. 201 ; C. I. 
L. IV. Suppl. 3905. 

Memoranda [p. 497] — gatnbling: C. I. L. IV. 21 19. Paces: ibid., 1714. 
Advent of young: Bull, dell' Inst., 1874, p. 202; C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 3890. 
Figures: C. I. L. IV. 1996, 2008, 201 1, 2020, etc. Oletim I. a.: C. I. L. 
IV. Suppl. 4000; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei, p. 59. 



APPENDIX 549 

Catchwords^ quotations, proverbs [p. 498] : Verg. Aen. I. i : C. I. L. \\\ 
1282, 2361, 3198. Aen. II. I : ibid., 2213, and often; Rom. Mitth., vol. 8 
(1893), p. 57.^ Lucr. I. I : C. I. L. IV. 3072. Mmhnum inahun: ibid., 
181 1, 1870. M or a}7i si quaeres : ibid., 2069. 

CHAPTER LVIII. INSCRIPTIONS RELATING TO BUSINESS 

AFFAIRS 

Tablets of Caecilius Jucimdiis [p. 499 et seq.'\ : edited by Zangemeister, C I . L. 
IV. Suppl. fasc. I (1898) ; first published by de Petra, Le tavolette cerate 
di Pompei rinvenute a' 3 e 5 Luglio, 1875 (Rome, 1876), also in Atti della 
R. Accademia dei Lincei, ser. 2/voT.'3,''pp. 3, 150-230; cf. Mommsen, Die 
Pompeianischen Quittungstafeln des L. Caecilius lucundus, Hermes, vol. 12 
(1879), pp. 88-141 ; Mommsen, Pompeianische Geschaftsurkunden, Hermes, 
vol. 23 (1888), pp. 157-159; Bruns, Pontes iuris Romani antiqui (Edit. 6, 
1893), pp. 291-293, 314-320. 

Of interest in this connection are the remains of wax tablets found in the 
gold mines near Verespatak (ancient Alburnus Maior) in Transylvania (C. I. L. 
III. pp. 921-960), and the records of transactions found on papyri of the 
Roman period in Egypt (cf., e.g., Schulten, Ein romischer Kaufvertrag auf 
Papyrus aus dem Jahre 166 n. Chr., Hermes, vol. 32, 1897, pp. 273-289). 

Tablet A [p. 502] : C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 3340, xxv ; de Petra, no. 15. 

Tablet B [p. 504] : C. I. L. IV. Suppl. 3340, cxLvii ; de Petra, no, 124. 

Inscriptions oji a?nphorae [p. 505] — ex f undo Badiano : C. I. L. IV. 2551. 
Estate uncertai7i: C. I. L. IV. 2552 (names of the consuls incorrectly given). 
fundus Satrianus, fundus Asinianus : Mau, Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), 
p. 96; Not. d. scavi, 1895, p. 33. 

Brands of wine [pp. 505-506] — Cniditwi: Rom. Mitth., vol. 13 (1898), 
p. 40. Coum: C. I. L. IV. 2565. AuTTtos: Rom. Mitth., vol. 8 (1893), 
p. 60. AevKowaptoi/ : Bull, deir Inst., 1874, p. 264. 

Gustaticitim [p. 506] : Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), p. 96. 

Edibles [p. 506] — Oliva alba duke: C. I. L. IV. 2610. Loinentum: 
ibid., 2597. g. f. : ibid., 2576. Liquamen : ibid., see Index, p. 243 ; 
Rom. Mitth., vol. 13 (1898), p. 30. 

Names of proprietor^ consigiwr., consignee [p. 507] — M. Caesius Celer : 
C. I. L. IV. Suppl. Virnius Modest us : Not. d. Scavi, 1881, p. 195. Cae- 

cili2is fucimdus : Bull. delP Inst., 1876, p. 24. Caecili lucuiidi : C. I. L. IV. 
Suppl. 3433. 

Inscriptio7is of the Boscoreale treasure [p. 507] : published in facsimile by 
Heron de Villefosse, Le tresor de Boscoreale ; see pp. 42 et seq. 

Inscription of the Alexandria patera [p. 507] : 

PHI-ET. EMB.P.P.IISIIOVI. PHI . P. P. III:^ . EMB- P. P- S-:^ 

1 " Virgil's words, ' Then were all silent,' look strangely in a half-finished scrawl from a 
wall of Pompeii's hushed and solitary homes." — Myers, Essays Classical (London, 
1897), p. 149. 



550 POMPEII 

Stamps [p. 508] : for the stamped and other permanent inscriptions on 
tiles, lamps, amphorae, and different kinds of terra-cotta vessels found at Pom- 
peii, as well as the stamps and seals, see the second part of C. T. L. X., under 
Instrumentum Domesticum. 

Exa7nples of stamps [p. 508] — bread: C. I. L. X. 8058, 18. Popidius 
Prisms: ibid., 8058, 70. Vettii: Rom. Mitth., vol. 11 (1896), p. 3. 



INDEX 



Abinnerich, i8. | 

Acceptus and Euhodia, house of, 341-343. 

accounts, memoranda of, on walls, 334, 495; I 
of Caecilius Jucundus, 496. | 

Acerrae, Pompeii seaport of, 3. ! 

Achilles, in paintings : among the daughters j 
of Lycomedes, 350, 478, 481 ; delivering I 
up of Briseis, 317; quarrel with Agamem- | 
non, 84, 350, 478 ; Thetis bringing arms 
to, see Thetis ; Troilus seized by, 478. I 

Actius Anicetus, actor, 148. 

Admetus and Alcestis, painting, 313. 

aediles, office of, 121, 123 ; title of, 12, 13. 

Aemilius Celer, writer of notices, 223, 486. 

Aeneas, statue of, 115. 

Aesculapius, worshipped at domestic shrine, 
272. 

Agamemnon, in the sanctuary of Artemis, 
painting, 331 ; quarrel with Achilles, paint- 
ing, 84, 350, 478. 

Agrippina, mother of Nero, statues of, 47, 
99. 

alae, sanctuary of the City Lares, 102; of 
Pompeian house, 258-259. 

Alexander and Daiius, battle of, mosaic, 
293-294. 

Alexandria, influence of, in the development 
of decorative styles, 458, 465. 

Alleia Decimilla, priestess of Ceres, 426. 

M. AUeius Luccius Libella, tomb of, 426. 

M. AUeius Minius, tomb of, 430. 

Cn. AUeius Nigidius Maius, 222, 349, 489. 

altar in dining room, 264. 

altars, in the courts of temples : of Apollo, 
86; of Isis, 174; of Doric temple, 139; 
temple of Vespasian, 107 ; temple of Zeus 
Milichius, 183, 440; on the sides of the 
streets, 233-236. 

Amphitheatre, 26, 212-226. 

amphorae, use of, 14; in the house of the 
Faun, 295; in the villa of Diomedes, 360; 
inscriptions upon, 505-506. 

Anchor, peristyle of the house of the, 351. 

andron in Pompeian houses, 260. 

P. Aninius, 195. 

antefixes about compluvium, 251. 

Antioch, 469. 

Apelles, 277. 

55 



Aphrodite, statue of, 450. 

Apollo, house of, 262, 268, 273, 351 ; repre- 
sented in stucco relief and in paintings, 205, 
312, 329, 331, 480; statues of, 88, 140, 272, 
352 ; temple of, 49, 80, 90. 

Apuleius and Veia, tomb of, 434. 

Apuleius on the worship of Isis, 169, 173, 
174, 176, 181, 182. 

architectural periods at Pompeii, 39-44. 

architecture, Pompeian, 437-444. 

architraves of timber and stone, 51, 

Ares and Aphrodite, painting, 286. 

Ariadne, in paintings. See Bacchus, Theseus. 

arm band, 379. 

Arria, tomb of, 428. 

M. Arrius Diomedes, tomb of, 356, 427. 

Artemis, in paindngs, 315; Agamemnon in 
sanctuary of, 331 ; shrine of, 481 ; statues 
of, 88, 450. 

artist at work, painting, 282. 

M.Artorius Primus, architect of the Large 
Theatre, 150. 

Atella, Ateilan farces, 142. 

Athena and Marsyas, painting, 482. 

M. Atinius, 200. 

atrium of Pompeian houses, 250-255 ; atrium 
without a compluvium, 343-344. 

Atticus, gladiator, 223-224. 

Auctus, gladiator, 225. 

Augustales, 100, 216, 409, 421, 423. 

Augustus Caesar, Brotherhood of. See Au- 
gustales ; regulation of standard measures, 
93; statues of, 47, 115; worship of, 14, 89- 
90, 104. 

Auriolus, gladiator, 224. 

autumn, Genius of, mosaic, 293. 

L. Avianius Flaccus, 243. 

bacchantes, 326, 336, 448, 468, 473. 

bacchic figures in capitals of columns, 309, 
349; in paintings, 329. 

Bacchus, reliefs of Blue Glass Vase, 415 ; 
triumph of, 336; in paintings, 88, 354; as 
tutelary divinity, 236, 417 ; finds Ariadne, 
339.354.480; in sculptures, 175, 325,448. 

bakery, arrangements of, 386-392. 

Basilica, 52, 70-79. 

bath, toilet appliances of, 377. 

I 



552 



INDEX 



Ba.ths, pud/ic, 186-189; Stabian, 189-201; 
Baths near the Forum, 202-207 ; Central 
Baths, 208-211; — private, of M. Crassus 
Frugi, 408; in houses, 267, 297, 306-307, 
346, 357 > 362-363. 

Bay of Naples, 2, 6, 358. 

bisellium, 369, 370, 421, 423. 

block. See Insula. 

Boccharis, myth of, 17. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, excavations under, 27. 

Boscoreale, villa rustica at, 14, 361-366 ; 
treasure of, 366, 380-382, 507-508. 

bricks, Pompeian, 36. 

Briseis, delivered to the messenger of Aga- 
memnon, painting, 316-318. 

building materials, 35-36. 

bust stones, 412, 418, 421, 428, 432 et seq. 

L. Caecilius Jucundus, herm of, 447, 477; 

house of, height of shops, 276; cellar of, 

268; decoration of tablinum, 348, 479; 

meeting in house of, 496 ; names of sons 
• of, 507 ; receipts of, 499-505 ; relief in the 

house of, 64. 
L. Caecilius Phoebus, 176. 
Julius Caesar, place for statue of, 115. 
P. Caesetius Postumus, 90. 
L. Caesius, 203. 
M. Caesius Celer, 507. 
L. Caesius Logus, 433. 
Caligula, elected duumvir of Pompeii, 14; 

statue of (?), 48. 
Callimachus, marble head, 447. | 

Callistus, 424. 

C. Calventius Quietus, tomb of, 421. I 

Campani, Campanienses, suburb of Pompeii, \ 

II, 492. 
Campania, events in the history of, 8-10. 
Campanian plain, i, 2. 
candelabra, 372-375. 
capitals of columns, 437, 440-441. 
Capri, 6, 406. 

casa deir Amore Punito, 275. 
casa del Balcone Pensile, 273. 
casa della Fontana Grande, 351. 
casa della Fontana Piccola; 351. 
Casellius, 487. 
Cassius Longinus, 141. 
Castellammare. See Stabiae. 
Castor and Pollux, house of, 350 ; Corinthian 

atrium, 252; paintings, 476, 481. 
casts made at Pompeii, human beings, 22 ; 

doors, 249, 
Cato the elder, reference to millstones, 15. 
Ceius Labeo, tomb of, 426. 
L. Ceius Secundus, 397. 
Celadus, gladiator, 226. 
Celer, 486. 



Centaur, house of, 350; bedroom in house 

of. 261. 
Centenary, house of, 261, 268, 348, 487. 
Ceres, priestesses of, 14, 426. 
M. Cerrinius Restitutus, tomb of, 409. 
Cestilia, 495. 
chairs, 367, 369. 
chalcidicum, iii. 
Championnet, excavations of, 27. 
Chius, 493. 

choinix, Greek measure, 93. 
Christians at Pompeii, 18. 
Chryseis, departure of, painting, 316. 
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 16, 58, 423. 
Citharist, house of, 352-354 ; fountain figures 

in the house of, 449. 
city council, constitution of, 12; hall of, 121, 

122. 
City Lares, sanctuary of the, 102-105. 
city wall, construction of, 237-241; course 

of, 31. 
Claudius, statues of, 47, 99. 
Ti. Claudius Verus, 487, 489. 
Clitumnus, 2. 

A. Clodius Flaccus, 57, 90, 161. 
L. Clodius Varus, 496. 
Cnidian wine, sold at Pompeii, 505. 
Coan wine, sold at Pompeii, 505. 
Coliseum, dimensions of, 213; masts for 

awnings of, 144. 
combs, 377-378. 
Comitium, 119-120. 

compluvium of the Pompeian house, 250. 
Concordia Augusta, fountain of, 117; statue 

of, 116. 
Constantinople, water system, 231, 232. 
construction, Pompeian, 36-39. 
Conviva, slave of Veia, 434. 
Corinthian atrium, 252, 309, 350. 
Cornelius, 493. 
A. Cornelius, 86. 
Cn. Cornelius, 86. 
P. Cornelius, 9. 
Cornelius Rufus, herm of, 255, 446; house 

of. 354- 
couches, 257, 263, 367, 368. 
country seats near Pompeii, 16. See villa. 
M. Crassus Frugi, baths of, 408. 
Crescens, fuller, 11; gladiator, 226. 
crypta, iii, 148. 
Cumae, 305. 
Cupids, in paintings and stucco reliefs, 97, 

205. 315. 331-338. 
Cycnus, gladiator, 223-224. 
Cyparissus, paintings, 338, 480. 

Daedalus, and Icarus, paintings, 200, 483 ; 
and Pasiphae, paintings, 339, 480. 



INDEX 



553 



Danae, painting, 338. 

Sex. Decimius Rufus, 492. 

Q. Decius Hilarus, 436. 

decoration, styles of, 41 et seq., 456 et seq. 

decurions, 12. 

Deles, remains of Incrustation Style on 

island of, 461. 
Demosthenes, marble head, 447. 
dining room in Pompeian houses, 262-266, 

273-276. 
Diodota, 497. 
Diogenes, mason, 387. 
Diomedes, tomb of, 427 ; villa of, 23, 356- 

360. 
Dion Cassius, 20, 196. 
Dionysus, in painting, 282, 463 ; statuette of, 

452. 
Dirce, punishment of, painting, 339. 
Doerpfeld's theory of the stage of the Greek 

theatre, 151-152. 
dolia, use of, 505 ; in the villa at Boscoreale, 

key to Plan IV, 364; in a painting, 403. 
doors, of houses, 249-250; of the temple of 

Jupiter, 64. 
Doric temple in the Forum Triangulare, 

137-140. 
duumvirs, office of, 121-123 ; title of, 12. 

earthquake of 63 A.D., 19. 

C. Egnatius Postumus, 85. 

Egyptian motives in wall decoration, 465. 

Elbeuf, Count, excavations of, at Hercula- 

neum, 26. 
election notices, 384, 396, 397, 486-489. 
Epicurus, marble head, 447. 
Epidius Rufus, house of, 248, 252, 258, 260, 

309-312; inscription upon shrine in the 

house of, 270. 
M. Epidius Sabinus, 488. 
Eumachia, building of, no-118; statue of, 

112, 445, 446. 
Europa, painting, 286, 480. 
Eurysaces, kneading machine in reliefs of 

tomb of, 392. 
Eutyches, slave of Umbricius Scaurus, 506. 
excavations, at Pompeii, 25-30; in honor 

of the King and Queen of Italy and the 

Emperor and Empress of Germany, 301, 

306; in honor of the Emperor Joseph II., 

344. 

fasces, on the tomb of Diomedes, 428. 

fauces of Pompeian house, 248. 

Faun, house of the, 27, 51, 261, 276, 288-297. 

festivals, religious, 57, 98, 337, 396. 

Fiorelli, 28-29, 34- 349- 

fisheries, products of, 15, 506. 

N. Fistius AmpHatus, 419. 



floors of Pompeian houses, 278. 

Fontana, Domenico, tunnel of, under Pom- 
peii, 25. 

Fortuna, worshipped at domestic shrines, 
104 ; identified with Isis, 342. 

Fortuna Augusta, temple of, 124-126. 

Fortunatus, 497. 

Forum, 45-60. 

Forum Triangulare, 134-137. 

fountain of Concordia Augusta, wrongly 
called of Abundantia, 117, 

fountains, public, 230-233 ; veneered with 
mosaic, 351. 

fullers erect a statue to Eumachia, 112. See 
Crescens, Vesonius Primus. 

fuUery, plan of, 396-397; processes of, 335, 

393-395- 
fundus Asinianus, fundus Satrianus, 505. 
P. Furius, 487. 
furniture of Pompeian houses, 367-379. 

Ganymede, stucco relief, 205. 

garden of Pompeian houses, 259. 

Garland tomb, 414. 

gartibulum, 254, 368. 

gates of Pompeii, 31, 241 et seq. 

C. Gavius Rufus, 397. 

Genii, in the shrine of the house of Joseph 
II, 346. 

Genius, worship of the, 269-273 ; of a 
woman, 346; of the autumn, mosaic, 293. 

genre paintings, 476-478. 

Germanicus, 48, 99. 

gladiators, barracks of, 160-164; combats 
of, in the Forum, 57 ; stucco reUefs on the 
tomb of Umbricius Scaurus, 419, 420; 
graffiti relating to, 223-226; notices of ex- 
hibitions of, 221-223. 

Glaucus, liouse of, 313. 

Glycera, letter to Menander, 329. 

gods, the twelve, painting, 236; statues of, 
at Pompeii, 449; worshipped at domestic 
shrines, 268-273. See temples. 

graffiti, 491-498. 

Greeks at Pompeii, 16-17, 505. 

gustaticium, 506. 

Hadrian, villa at Tivoli, 355. 

Hannibal, 9. 

Harpocrates, worship of, 168 et seq. 

hearth, in Pompeian kitchen, 266-267; for 

open-air triclinia, 285, 342. 
Hecuba, painting, 479. 
helmet found in gladiators' barracks, 163. 
Cn. Helvius, 396. 
Cn. Helvius Sabinus, 397, 488. 
Helvius Vestalis, 384. 
Hephaestus, in a painting, 339. 



554 



INDEX 



Herculaneum, burial of, 21 ; excavations at, 
26. 

Herculaneum Gate, 31, 244. 

Hercules, in paintings, 339, 478, 480, 481 ; 
worshipped at domestic shrines, 104, 272, 
308. 417. 

Herennius Celsus, 487. 

M. Herennius Epidianus, 86, 136. 

herms. See Caecilius Jucundus, Cornelius 
Rufus, Sorex, Vesonius Primus. 

Hermaiscus, gladiator, 225. 

hermaphrodite, statue of, 87. 

Hermes, inn of, 401, 402. 

Hirtia Psacas, 497. 

Holconii, rebuilders of the Large Theatre, 
148. 

M. Holconius, house of, 354. 

M. Holconius Celer, 148-149, 

M. Holconius Priscus, 384, 487. 

M. Holconius Rufus, 85, 90, 148-149, 445. 

Homer, 478. 

Horace, 90, 270, 428. 

C. Hostilius Conops, 497. 

household gods, worship of, 104, 268-273, 
297. 308, 315, 323. 342, 346, 362. 

house, Poinpeian, 245-279. See Acceptus 
and Euhodia, Anchor, Apollo, Castor and 
Pollux, Centaur, Centenary, Cilhaiist, Epi- 
dius Rufus, Faun, Hunt, Joseph H, Pansa, 
Porta Marina, Sallust, Silver Wedding, 
Surgeon, Tragic Poet, Vettii, Villa. See 
also casa. 

Hyginius Firmus, inn of, 400. 

impluvium of Pompeian house, 250. 

inns, 400-402. 

inscriptions, graffiti, 11, 70, 148, 223-226, 270, 
305, 385, 401, 404, 491-498 ; monumental in- 
scriptions, defined, 486; examples, 50, 
81, 85, 86, 89, III, 112, 130, 148, 149, 150, 
153, 170, 19s, 203, 212, 218, 228, 407, 409, 
410, 418, 419, 421, 422, 425, 426, 427, 430, 432, 
434; public notices, 221-223, 3^2, 386, 396- 
397, 400, 435-436, 486, 489; relating to 
business affairs, 499-508. 

Insula, defined, 33-34. 

lo and Argus, painting, 96, 479. 

Tphigenia, sacrifice of, painting, 318-320, 472. 

Isis, temple and worship of, 168-184. 

Istacidia RufiHa, priestess, 412. 

Istacidii, tomb of, 411. 

Italic foot, 44. 

Ixion, punishment of, painting, 339-340. 

jewellery, 379. 
Jews at Pompeii, 17-18. 
Joseph II, house of, 344-347. 
Julia Felix, villa of, 26, 490. 



C. Julius Speratus, 401. 

Juno, Genius of a woman, 270, 418. 

Jupiter, head, 67-69 ; temple of, 61-67 ". wor- 
shipped at domestic shrines, 272 ; at street 
shrine, 235. 

kitchen in Pompeian houses, 266-268. 
kitchen utensils, 375. 
kneading machine, 391-392. 

Labyrinth, oecus in the house of the, 265. 

lamps, 370-372. 

lamp standards, 372 et seq. 

landscape paintings, 473. 

Lares, City, 102-105 ; Compitales, 233-235 ; 

domestic, 269. See household gods, 
lava, kinds of, 36; used for millstones, 15. 
Leda, painting, 338. 

limestone, kinds used at Pompeii, 35, 36. 
limestone atriums, period of, 39. 
limestone framework, 37. 
Livius Andronicus, 141. 
Livineius Regulus, 219. 
loss of life at time of eruption, 23. 
Lucretius, house of, 348, 449, 457. 

D. Lucretius Satrius Valens, 222. 
Lytton, Buhver, 219. 

Macellum, 94-101. 

Magister, of the Pagus Augustus Felix, 14. 

Maia, herm of, 88, 89. 

Mamia, tomb of, 410. 

P. Mancius Diogenes, tomb of, 432. 

Manetho, 168. 

Marcellus, statues of, 98, 136. 

M. Marcellus, 9. 

M. Marius, 487. 

market buildings, 62, 91-93. 

Mars, worshipped at domestic shrines, 272. 

Mars and Venus, stucco reliefs, 179. 

Marsyas, in paintings, 312, 482. 

masonry, styles of, 36-39. 

maxims in graffiti, 498. 

Medea, painting, 96. 

Medusa, relief on fountain standard, 230. 

Meleager, house of, 265, 351; in paintings, 

478. 
Cn. Melissaeus Aper, 412. 
Mercury, as tutelary divinity, 236, 408 ; herm 

of, 88 ; relief of, 230. 
mills, 388-390. 
millstones, 15, 387-390. 
Minerva, 140, 236, 240, 243, 395, 
ministri Augusti, 89. 
ministri Fortunae Augustae, 132. 
ministri of the Pagus Augustus Felix, 14. 
mirrors, 378. 
Misenum, 7, 19, 20, 21. 



INDEX 



555 



mixing bowl, 376. 

Q. Monnius Rufus, 221. 

mosaic pictures, 278, 288, 290, 292-295, 398- 

399- 
Mummius, 141. 
L. Munatius Caeserninus, 435. 
C. Munatius Faustus, 422. 
musicians, painting, 476, 477. 

Naevoleia, Tyche, tomb of, 422-423. 
Narcissus, statue wrongly identified as, 

453- 
Nero, 48, 94, 99, III, 220, 223. 
Nigidius Vaccula, 197, 198. 
Nile, creatures of the, mosaic, 293 ; worship 

of water of, 178, 179. 
Niraemius, 203. 
Nocera. See Nuceria. 
Nola, Pompeii seaport of, 3. 
M. Nonius Campanus, 387. 
C. Norbanus Sorex, 176. 
Nuceria, Pompeii seaport of, 3. 
Nucerians, conflict with Pompeians, 220, 

221, 492. 
nuptials of Zeus and Hera, painting, 316- 

317, 483-484. 
nursing bottle, 372. 

C. Occius, 203. 

Octavia, statue of, 98. 

M. Oculatius Verus, 156. 

Odeum of Herodes Atticus, 155. 

oecus in Ponipeian houses, 265. 

Oenone in paintings, 480. 

Ofificiosus, gladiator, 226. 

olive, culture of, about Pompeii, 14 ; crusher, 

365 ; presses for making oil, 333, 365. 
Omphalos, 81, 331. 
Oppius Campanius, 80. 
opus compositum, opus incertum, opus 

mixtum, 37-38; opus reticulatum, 38, 43; 

opus Signinum, 74, 278, 366. 
Orange, masts of theatre at, 144. 
Orestes and Pylades before Thoas, painting, 

353-356, 472, 479- 
Orientals at Pompeii, 17. 
Oscan foot, 44. 
Oscan graves, 405, 407. 
Oscan inscriptions, 80, 139, 140, 165, 184, 

240, 242, 243. 
Oscans, founders of Pompeii, 8 ; conquered 

by the Samnites, 9. 
Osiris, worship of, 168 et seq. 
oven, of bakery, 391. 
Ovid, quoted in graffiti, 495, 496. 

Paganus, 14, 422. 

Pagus Augustus Felix, 14, 218, 427. 



paintings, number of, 471 ; relation to deco- 
rative styles, 472-474; classes of, 475-484. 

Palaestra, 165-167. 

Pansa, house of, 27, 249, 260, 266, 349-350. 

Pansas, father and son, statues of, 219. 

P. Paquius Proculus, 477. 

Paris, 493. 

Paris in paintings, 286, 480. 

Pausanius, 200. 

Penates, worship of, 104, 272. 

Pentheus and Maenads, painting, 339, 481. 

peristyle of the Pompeian house, 260. 

Perseus with Andromeda, represented in 
stucco relief and paintings, 179, 180, 329, 
480. 

St. Peter, bronze statue of, in Rome, 118. 

Q. Petronius Octavus, gladiator, 226. 

Phrixus and Helle, painting, 286. 

Pi etas Augusta, iii. 

Pithecusans, 492. 

Plato, 478. 

Pliny the Elder, death of, 19-20. 

Pliny the Younger, account of the eruption 
in 79, 19-22; villa of, 355. 

poet, reciting, 329. 

polychrome decoration, 441. 

Polyclitus, doryphorus of, 167. 

Polyphemus receiving a letter from Galatea, 
painting, 480, 481. 

Pompeii, before 79, 8 etseq. ; burial of, 19-23 ; 
excavation of, 25-30; government, 11-14; 
resources, 14-16; population, 16-18; value 
of remains, 509-511. 

N. Pontiiis, 184, 242. 

N. Popidius Ampliatus, 170. 

N. Popidius Celsinus, 170. 

V. Popidius, 50. 

M. Porcius, 86. 

M. Porcius, 153, 212. 

M. Porcius, tomb of, 410. 

portieres at entrance of tablinum, 256. 

Poseidon and Amymone, painting, 329. 

Postumius Proculus, 386. 

potter's workshop, 386. 

praefects at Pompeii, 13, 14. 

Praetorian Guard, 492. 

Priene, remains of Incrustation Style at, 461. 

priests, 14, 33. 

priestesses, 14, 33, 410, 412. 

Privatus, slave, 504. 

procession to the theatres, 159. 

Proculus, 488. 

Propertius, quoted in graffito, 495, 496. 

Psyches gathering flowers, painting, 330. 

public buildings, location of, 33, 61, 133. 

public notices. See inscriptions. 

Pugnax, gladiator, 223-224. 

pumice stone, 15, 20. 



556 



INDEX 



Puteolana, 497. 
Puteoli, 169, 401, 492. 
Pyrrhus, 493. 

Quasi-reticulate facing, 38, 42. 
C. Quinctius Valgus, 153, 212. 

Regions of Pompeii, 34. 

rent, notices of property for, 489, 490. 

Restitutus, 496. 

reticulate facing, 38, 43. 

Rhodian peristyle, 260, 304. 

Rocca Monfina, i, 15. 

Roman foot, 44. 

Romula, 496. 

Romulus, statue of, 115. 

rostra, 48. 

Rothschild, Baron, gift of Boscoreale treasure 

to the Louvre, 366. 
rubble work, 37. 
Rullus, 153. 

Sabinus, 488. 

Salinenses, 11. 

Sallust, house of, 260, 283-287, 459-460. 

Q. Sallustius, statue of, 47. 

Salus, worshipped at street shrine, 235, 

Salvius, tomb of, 426. 

Samius, 493. 

Samnite wars, 9. 

Samus, gladiator, 226. 

Sarno, river, 2-4, 98. 

Sarno limestone, 35, 39, 280. 

Saturn, treasure in temple of, at Rome, 67. 

satyr, ornament of capital, 348; fountain 
figure, 449; bronze statue, 451; marble 
statuette, 315 ; in wall decoration, 469, 

473- 
Scipio Africanus, bath in villa of, 208. 
sculpture, 445-453. 
Sculptured Capitals, house of, 348. 
seals of witnesses, 500-501. 
Seasons, paintings, 315. 
second story rooms in Pompeian house, 

273-276. 
Seneca, quoted, 194, 208. 
sepulchral monument in front of Doric 

temple, 139. See tombs. 
L. Sepunius Sandilianus, 86, 136. 
Serapis, temple of, at Puteoli, 169. 
Serena, 495. 
P. Servilius Rullus, 153. 
Setian wine, 403. 
Seviri Augustales, 100. 
sewers, 229. 
L. Sextilius, 86. 
shops, appearance of, 289 ; relation to house, 

276-278, 349 ; signs, 387. 



shrines, at the sides of the streets, 233-236 ; 
domestic, 268-273, 297, 308, 309, 315, 323, 
342, 346, 362, 417, 449 et seg. 

Signia pavement, 74, 278, 366. 

Silenus, bronze statuette, 451-452; fountain 
figure, 448. 

Silver Wedding, house of, 265, 301-308. 

M. Sittius, 184, 242. 

sleeping rooms in Pompeian house, 261-262. 

Solomon, Judgment of, painting, 17. 

Sorex, herm of, 176, 446. 

Sorrento, 6, 358, 406. 

Q. Spedius Firmus, 243. 

spoons, 375. 

Q. Spurennius Priscus, 492. 

Stabiae, 3, 4, 21, 26, 358. 

stamps, 508. 

standard measures, table of, 92-93. 

Staphylus, 496. 

statues in public places, 46, 115, 447; rep- 
resented in wall decoration, 468. 

stepping stones, 229. 

stocks in the gladiators' barracks, 163, 

streets of Pompeii, 32-33, 227-229; street 
shrines, 233-236. 

strigiles, 188, 377. 

suburbs of Pompeii, lo-ii, 14. 

T. Suedius Clemens, 27, 407, 488. 

A. Suettius Certus, 222. 

Sulla, Dictator, 10, 240. 

P. Sulla, nephew of the Dictator, 10. 

sundials, 87, 136, 200, 207, 211. 

Surgeon, house of, 39, 260, 280-282. 

table of standard measures, 92-93. 

tables, 254, 263-264, 326, 368-369. 

tablinum in Pompeian house, 255-258. 

Tadius [Ludius], 475. 

tannery, 395-397. 

temples, 33; of Apollo, 80-90; Doric, 137- 
140; of Fortuna Augusta, 130-132; of 
Isis, 168-182; of Jupiter, 61-69; of Venus 
Pompeiana, 124-129; of Vespasian, 106- 
109; of Zeus Milichius, 183-185. 

T. Terentius Felix, tomb of, 413. 

tetrastyle atrium, 251-252. 

Theatre Colonnade, 157-164. 

Theatre, Large, 141-152 ; Small, 153-156. 

Theseus and Ariadne, painting, 315. 

Thetis bringing arms to Achilles, 316,481; 
in the smithy of Hephaestus, 480, 481. 

Tiberius, 48, iii. 

tiles, 36, 251, 

Timanthes, 319, 320. 

Timotheus, 168. 

N. Tintirius Rufus, 90. 

Titia, 433. 

Titus, 23. 



INDEX 



557 



toilet articles, 377-379. 

tombs, 405-406; along Street of Tombs, 

406-428 ; near the Nola, Stabian, and 

Nocera gates, 429-436. 
towers of the city wall, 238-241. 
trades, ancient view of, 383. See bakery, 

fullers, tannery. 
Tragic Poet, house of, 250, 268, 313-320. 
Travertine, so-called, 35. 
treasury of the city, 91. 
Trebius, 384. 
triclinium funebre, 424. 
triclinium in garden, house of Acceptus and 

Euhodia, 342; inn, 404; house of Sallust, 

285 ; tannery, 398-399. See dining room. 
Trojan War, groups of paintings, 84, 316. 
tufa, kinds of, 35. 
Tufa Period, 40 et seq., 437 et seq. 
M. Tullius, builder of the temple of Fortuna 

Augusta, 130, 132. 
M. Tullius, tomb of, 430. 
Tuscan atrium, 251. 
Tyche, slave of Julia Augusta, 270, 418. 

C. Ulius, 195, 202. 
Ulysses and Penelope, painting, 96. 
Umbricia Januaria, receipt of, 502. 
Umbricius Scaurus, fish sauces of, 15, 506. 
A. Umbricius Scaurus, tomb of, 418-419. 

C. Valerius Venustus, 401. 

Valgus and Porcius, builders of Small Thea- 
tre and Amphitheatre, 153, 212. 

Varro, 94, 257, 363. 

Vatia, 488-489. 

Veia, 433. 

A. Veius, tomb of, 409. 

N. Velasius Gratus, 425. 

Venus, statue of, 87 ; threatened by irate 
lover, 496. 

Venus Pompeiana, 12, 272, 350, 490. 

Verus, 384. 

M. Vesonius Primus, 396-397, 446. 

Vespasian, 408; temple of, 106-109. 

Vesta, festival of, 98, 337; in hearth paint- 
ings, 272. 



Vestal virgins, place at the theatre, 145. 

Vestals, house of the, vestibule, 248. 

vestibule of Pompeian houses, 248. 

Vesuvius, 2, 6, 19 et seq. 

Vettii, house of the, 321-340 ; garden sculp- 
tures, 449; hearth, 266; shrine, 272. 

A. Vettius Conviva, A. Vettius Restitutus, 
stamps of, 508. 

Vibius Adiranus, 165. 

Vibius Popidius, 243. 

Vibius Popidius, quaestor, 50. 

Vibius Restitutus, 401. 

Cn. Vibius Saturninus, 424. 

Vibius Vinicius, 165. 

Victoria, 495. 

villas, Roman, 355; of Diomedes, 356-362; 
villa rustica at Boscoreale, 361-366. 

Virgil, 272, 448, 496, 498. 

A. Virnius Modestus, 507. 

Vitruvius, 57, 63, 137, 151, 152, 158, 193, 210, 
248, 250, 256, 263, 299, 355, 361. 

D. Volcius Thallus, 503. 

walls of the city, construction of, 237-239 ; 

course of, 31. 
walls of houses, plastering and decoration, 

456 ^/j<?^. See masonry, 
ward. See Regions, 
water heater, for baths, 194. 
water system of Pompeii, 230-233. 
Weichardt, restoration of Forum Triangu- 

lare, 137. 
well near Doric temple, 139. 
windows, in houses, 279 ; of Central Baths, 

208, 210. 
wine, fermentation of, 364, 505 ; kinds of, 

506 ; produced about Pompeii, 14 ; presses, 

336, 363-364- 
wineshops, 402-404. 

Xenion, 474. 

yoke, 228, 404. 

Zeus, of Otricoli, 67-69 ; in paintings, 316, 
338. 



^a 



sa 



ri- 
se 



di 



KEY TO PLAN VI 





Region I 


SULA 

i. 5. 


Inn. 


8. 


Inn of Hermes. 


ii. 24. 


Wineshop. 


28. 


House with a grating over 




the impluvium. 


iv. 5. 


House of the Citharist — 




casa del Citarista. 


V. 2. 


Tannery. 



The names of only the more important streets are given on Plan VI. 
Among the names omitted are those of the continuations of Nola Street, 
which it is more convenient to regard as a single thoroughfare extending 
without change of name across the city. 

The more important buildings of each Region are given in the order of 
the Insulae. 

iii. 3. Bakery. 

7. So-called Academy of Music 
— Accademia di Musica. 
20. Wineshop. 
v. 3. House of Neptune — casa di 

Nettuno. 
vi. I. House of Pansa — casa di 

Pansa. 
vii. 18. House of Adonis — casa di 
Adone. 
20. Casa deir Argenteria. 

22. Inn. 

23. House of Apollo. 
25. Casa del Duca d' Aumale. 

viii. 5. House of the Tragic Poet — 
casa del Poeta Tragico. 
20. Fullery. 

22. Casa della Fontana Grande. 

23. Casa della Fontana Piccola. 
ix. 2. House of Meleager — casa 

di Meleagro. 
3. House of the Centaur — casa 
del Centauro. 

6. House of Castor and Pollux 
— casa di Castore e Polluce. 

X. I. Wineshop. 

7. House of the Anchor — casa 
deir Ancora. 

II. Casa del Naviglio. 
xi. 10. House of the Labyrinth — 

casa del Laberinto. 
xii. House of the Faun — casa 

del Fauno. 
xiii. 6. House of M. Terentius Eu- 

doxus. 
xiv. 20. House of M. Vesonius Pri- 
mus, often called the house 
of Orpheus — casadi Orfeo. 
22. Fullery. 

30. House of Laocoon — casa di 
Laocoonte. 



Region V 

Insula 

i. 7. Casa del Torello di Bronzo. 
18. Casa degli Epigrammi. 
26. House of L. Caecilius Ju- 
cundus. 
House of M. Tofelanus 
Valens. 
I. Casa della Regina Mar- 

gherita. 
4. Casa del Triclinio. 

House of the Silver Wed- 
ding — casa delle Nozze 
d' Argento. 
House with a covered 
atrium. 



n. 



28. 



a. 



V. 2. 



Region VI 
Insula 

Ins. Occidentalis, i. Inn. 
i. 7. House of the Vestals — 
casa delle Vestali. 
ID. House of the Surgeon 
casa del Chirurgo. 
So-called custom-house. 
House of Sallust — casa di 

Sallustio. 
Bakery. 

House of the Amazons — 
casa delle Amazoni. 




PLAN VI. — THE EXCAVATED PORTION OF POMPEII. 



KEY TO PLAN VI {concluded) 



XIV. 35. 



43- 



Insula 
i. 8. 
25. 
40. 

45- 

ii. II. 

16. 

18. 
20. 
22. 
45- 

iii. 29. 

iv. I. 

48. 

51- 

56. 

57- 

59- 



V. 


2. 


vi. 


,17. 


vii. 


5- 




27. 




28. 




29- 




31- 


viii. 


32- 




a. 


ix. 


. I. 




2. 




3 




8. 



Bakery with kneading ma- 
chine. 

Casa degli Scienziati. 

House of the Vettii. 

House with atrium in two 
stories. 

Region VII 

Stabian Baths. 

House of Siricus. 

House of Caesius Blandus. 

Elephant Inn. 

Dyehouse. 

House of M. Gavius Rufus. 

House of C. Vibius. 

House of Popidius Priscus. 

Bakery. 

House of the Bear — casa 
deir Orso. 

House of M. Spurius Mesor. 

Temple of Fortuna Augusta. 

House of the Hunt — casa 
della Caccia. 

House of the Colored Cap- 
itals — casa dei Capitelli 
Colorati, also called the 
house of Ariadna — casa 
d' Arianna. 

Casa del Granduca di Tos- 
cana. 

House of the Sculptured Cap- 
itals — casa dei Capitelli 
Figurati. 

House of the Black Wall — 
casa della Parete Nera. 

Baths. 

Water reservoir. 

House of Cissonius. 

City treasury. 

Public closet. 

30. Market buildings. 

Table of standard measures. 

Temple of Apollo. 

Forum. 

Capitolium. 

Building of Eumachia. 

Temple of Vespasian. 

Sanctuary of the City Lares. 

Macellum. 



xii. 28. 


House with projecting upper 
story — casa del Balcone 
Pensile. 


35- 
xiv. 9. 
XV. 8. 


Inn. 

House with skeleton. 

House with second story din- 


Ins. 
13- 


ing room. 
Occidentalis. 
House near the Porta Marina. 


Insula 
i. 
ii. 1,3 


Region VIII 

Basilica. 
. Casa di Championnet. 





23- 




39- 


iii. 


I. 




4- 


iv. 


• 4- 




15- 


-vi. 


39- 



vni. 



6. Office of the aediles. 
8. Hall of the city council 
10. Office of the duumvirs. 
17-21. Terrace house, with bath. 
Bath. 

House of the Emperor Jo- 
seph II — casa deir Impe- 
. ratore Giuseppe II. 
Comitium. 
House of the Wild Boar — 

casa di Cinghiale. 
House of Marcus Holconius. 
House of Cornelius Rufus. 
House of Acceptus and Eu- 

hodia. 
The theatres and other pub- 
lic buildings. 







Region IX 


Insula 




i. 


20. 


House of Epidius Rufus. 




22. 


House of Epidius Sabinus. 


ii. 


16. 


House of Balbus. 


iii. 


2. 


Dyehouse. 




5- 


House of M. Lucretius. 




10. 


Bakery. 




25. 


House of L. Clodius Varus. 


iv. 




Central Baths. 


V. 


II. 


House with triclinium of ma- 
sonry and seat for the 
children. 


vii. 


6. 


House of the Centenary — 
casa del Centenario ; also 
known as the house of Ti- 
berius Claudius Verus. 




a. 


Inn of Hyginius Firmus. 



Handbooks of Archaeology and Antiquities 
The Destruction of Ancient Rome 

A Sketch of the Histoiy of the Monuments 

By EODOLFO LANCIANI, D.C.L., Oxford, LL.D., Professor of Ancient 

Topography in the University of Rome 

Cloth i2nio $1.50 net 

A Handbook of Greek Sculpture 

By ERNEST ARTHUR GARDNER, formerly Director of the British School 

of Ai ch^ology at Athens 

Cloth i2mo $2.50 net 

The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic 

An l7itrodiictiojt to the Study of the Religio7i of the Romans 

By W. WARDE FOWLER, M.A., Fellow and Sub-Rector of Lincoln College, 

Oxford 
Cloth i2mo $1.25 net 

A Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins 

By G. F. HILL, M.A., of the Department of Coins and Medals in the British 

IMuseum. With Fifteen Colortype Plates 

Cloth i2mo $2.25 net 

A Handbook of Greek Constitutional History 

By A. H. J. GREENIDGE, M.A., Lecturer and late Fellow at Hertford College, 

and Lecturer in Ancient History at Brasenose College, Oxford 

Cloth i2mo $1.25 net 



Roman Public Life 



By A. H. J. GREENIDGE, M.A., Lecturer and late Fellow at Hertford College, 

and Lecturer in Ancient History at Brasenose College, Oxford 

Cloth i2mo $2.50 net 

Monuments of the Early Church 

By WALTER LOWRIE, M.A., late Fellow of the American School of Classi- 
cal Studies at Rome 
Cloth i2nio $1.75 net 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



A NEW AND CHEAPER EDIT! ON 

AVE ROMA IMMORTALIS 

STUDIES. FROM THE CHRONICLES OF ROME 

By F. MARION CRAWFORD, Author of " Rulers of the South," etc., etc. 
Fully illustrated. Cloth, Crown 8vo, $3.00 fiet 

Dr. S. Weir Mitchell writes: " I have not for a long while read a book which 
pleased me more than Mr. Crawford's ' Roma.' It is cast in a form so original and so 
available that it must surely take the place of all other books about Rome which are 
needed to help one to understand its story and its archaeology. . . . The book has for 
me a rare interest." ^_^^^^^^ 

A NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION 

POMPEn 

ITS LIFE AND ART 

By AUGUST MAU, German Archaeological Institute in Rome. Translated 
into English by FRANCIS W. Kelsey, University of Michigan. Profusely 
illustrated ffom photographs, etc. Cloth, Gilt Top, Crown 8vo, $2.50 net. 

F. Marion Crawford says of this work: " Professor Mau has succeeded beyond all 
those who have preceded him on the same ground, He reconstructs the ruins so that 
one believes in them, and sees that they must have been as he describes them, and the 
excellent drawings of these reconstructions stimulate the reader's belief He restores the 
decorations next, and furnishes the vacant dwellings in a way that seems natural, and 
even comfortable ; and, lastly, he populates the city he has so skilfully rebuilt, not with 
the dull lay figures in togas or tunics so dear to scientific history, but with human beings, 
alive and moving." 

IN PREPARATION FOR EARLY ISSUE 

ANCIENT ATHENS 

By ERNEST ARTHUR GARDNER, Yates Professor of Archaeology in 
University College, London. Formerly Director of the British School 
It Athens. Author of "A Handbook of Greek Sculpture," etc., etc. 
Cloth, 8vo. Profusely illustrated. 

This handsomely illustrated book is a companion volume in its make-up to Mau's 
" Pompeii," Its object is to give an adequate and at the same time popular account of 
Ancient Athens, irom the earliest times down to the official introduction of Christianity. 
The book deals mainly with the topography of the city and Acropolis, the extant remains 
of ancient buildings, and the sculpture that decorated them. It includes the results of 
recent excavation and research ; but c( -versial matters have, as far as possible, been 
relejjated to notes and appendices. 1 description is given of the Parthenon, the 

Erechtheum, Theatre, and other buildings, and such questions as the water supply, the 
walls of town and harbours, the position of the Agora, and the route Pausanias, are duly 
considered. The general aim of the author is to stimulate and assist the historical im- 
agination by bringing Ancient Athens, in various periods of its growth, vividly before the 
eyes of the ordinary well-informed reader, and to provide both those who have visited 
Greece and those who have not with views and plans and illustrations to enable them to 
realize the present appearance of the town and its monuments. For this purpose the 
book is very fully illustrated, as far as possible, by means of photography. Above all, 
the author has avoided, as far as possible, compilation or quotation from various writers, 
and has endeavored to give a direct record of the impressions derived from a familiarity 
with the sites and buildings described. 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



LBFe'14 



^■^ . ^v uv 




'J^'/-^'" "''/•'.'! 









-0^^ 



^o 




OQ> 







"^^.^-C'^fv^.j, 



--^^^r^ J" 



'o 




















)o 










f^.\ '^Z ^v"'"-^ ' 




.4- 



sX, ^V 



vO O. 






^^' ^ 



^^ .^^ 



l^^ ,. N c . '/' 



O. -v 
















oo^ . ^^<|^': '-^^^ v" 



.;>t-/.^..-^--.,.'At:S^= 



